Throughout the 2010 Men's Lacrosse season, the Eastern University freshman have made an impression at both ends of the field. While Eastern's young players again made big plays in this afternoon's critical 10-9 home win over Manhattanville College, it was a couple of veterans who made the difference. Senior captain Michael Hofmeister scored four times, and junior defender Matt Mandia scored his third career goal to lift the Eagles to 5-1 in the MAC.

The Eagles never trailed in the contest, but Manhattanville goalie Andrew Predun made sure that they never pulled away to a big lead either. The senior backstop turned away 25 Eastern shots with an impressive array of high and low stops. The persistence of the Eastern offense, however, paid off as they were able to find enough gaps to hold the lead.

Hofmeister opened the scoring with a dodge to the center of the field just over a minute and a half into the game. Three minutes later, a pair of freshmen combined as Chris Farrar found David Darling just off the crease. Darling made a quick move and ripped a hard shot for his eighth of the year. In addition to his goal, the San Diego native won 13 of 22 face-offs. 

The Valiants rallied to close the gap to 2-1 on Matt Hanley's first of the day, but Hofmeister found room to run inside and buried his second of the day in the last minute of the first quarter. The Eagles held a 7-3 edge in shots after one period.

Early in the second period Mandia grabbed a loose ball near the top of the defensive area. The returning All-MAC defender ran the clear through and kept going. By the time the Valiant defense stepped forward to stop him, Mandia had fired an overhand shot into the top part of the net for his second goal of the year. He is now just 79 behind his older brother-- Eastern career leader and current assistant coach-- Nick. In fairness to Matt, he has scored on every shot he has taken in the 2010 campaign. His older brother could never say that. 

The three goal edge did not last for long as Hanley found the net again with 9:38 to play. Just over midway through the period, the Eagles found a transition opportunity on a Joey Wilmot clear. The sophomore attacked the crease and dumped a pass to Hofmeister right on the doorstep for a 5-2 lead. After the game, Eastern Head Coach Brandon Childs talked about the work of Wilmot and Hofmeister. He said, "with as well as their goalie played, we needed to get some unsettled situations and take advantage. Joey and Michael, with their speed and athleticism, gave us those opportunities. I thought that was a big key for us today."

Manhattanville scored twice in the final four minutes of the period to bring the game back into reach. Predun and Eastern goalie Aaron Benz each turned away five shots in the second period.

Eastern's top two scorers found goals early in the third to briefly restore the three goal edge. Zac Ivy scored his goal on a broken clear. Cal Napolitano gathered a loose ball immediately outside the box and found Ivy at the edge of the crease on the left side. Ivy faked low twice and finished high for his 16th of the year. Will Johnson scored his goal on another Wilmot attack. Once again, Manhattanville scored twice to close out the period.

The two sides traded goals through the fourth period. Hofmeister opened the scoring for the Eagles with his fourth of the day, but the Valiants responded with a goal just seconds after a man-up opportunity expired. Hofmeister picked up the ground ball on the ensuing face-off, and after running backwards to escape pressure found Matt Soldano in the clear. Soldano attacked the crease and flipped a late pass to Farrar. Farrar finished high from a tight angle to restore the two goal advantage.

When the Valiants scored to with 6:46 to play, the Eagles needed to control the face-off. Darling controlled, and Eastern peppered the Valiant net with shots. Predun, however, stood tall and turned away shot after shot. As the Eagles continued to maintain possession, they earned a two-man advantage, but Predun made a pair of saves in the man-down situation.

Finally, Farrar surprised the Valiants with a roll to the crease from behind to put the Eagles up 10-8. Benz saved the first Manhattanville shot after the draw, but Hanley scored with just over a minute to play to create a critical final minute of action.

Manhattanville won the face-off but failed to control the ball in play, the Eagles had to kill 53 seconds for the game. It looked as though it would be over as Michael Hofmeiseter ran in the box for close to 30 seconds, but offsetting penalties on Predun and Hofmeister after a whistle for an Eastern timeout gave the Valiants a free clear and a final chance with 16 seconds to play. 

Benz made a clean grab on his 17th save of the day to preserve his 7th win of the year. At 5-1 in the MAC, the Eagles sit a game behind Elizabethtown College in a tie with either Widener or FDU(who play in Chester this evening) for second place with five games to play. Manhattanville (4-7, 3-3) dropped their third one goal game in the last four contests. Eastern returns to action at King's College on Saturday. 

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