Eastern University Women's Soccer has won the Freedom Conference Tournament as a #1 seed in 2008, and as a #3 seed in 2009. After tonight's heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss at FDU-Florham, the Eagles will have to try to win the Championship as a #2 seed. The host Devils got a pair of goals from senior forward Brittany Kanckij to earn the win.

FDU had three really good chances early, but Aly Goodman was in place to turn them away. After the opening 15 minutes of the game, Eastern began to apply pressure on the FDU net. The Eagles earned several shots in tight, but they were unable to consistently find the frame and the game remained knotted at 0-0 until the 36th minute of action.

The Eagles grabbed the lead on a nifty bit of work to spring Michelle Brown into wide space. The first year midfielder earned the end line and lifted a high cross to the back post. Amy Thomas met the ball in perfect time and headed home her fourth of the year for 1-0 lead.

That lead would only last until six minutes into the second half. Kanickij stole a ball in the final third and pushed home the tying goal. For the remainder of regulation, the Eagles had nearly all the play. Katie Ruth hit the crossbar on a shot from distance, and Kristine Zeiset's rebound attempt went just over the bar. With nine minutes to play Kelsey Doutrich ripped a a 12 yard blast off the left upright, and the Eagles took six corners in the final 30 minutes of regulation.

With all the action in the attacking end, the Eagles were not able to find the game-winner. Kanickij found the game winner when she chased down a Lora Fink through ball just 75 seconds into extra time.

The win gives the Devils (13-5-2, 6-0-1 Freedom) the top seed and a date with fourth seeded Misericordia. The Cougars (12-5-2, 3-3-1 Freedom) qualified for the post-season with a 2-1 win at Wilkes this evening. Eastern (13-4-1, 6-1 Freedom) will host Manhattanville College (3-13-2, 3-3-2 Freedom) in the other Semifinal at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday.  

"You have to give their side credit," Eastern Head Coach Dan Mouw commented, "They had two good chances after the first ten minutes, and they put them away. We will need to get sharper in our execution to extend our season. I think the team will be up to to it."

Per MAC instructions, admission will be charged at all Championship events. Eastern University Student Development has agreed to pay the price of admission for any Eastern University student with valid Eastern ID to see any of this week's home games. The cost will be $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, and $2 for students.