On a day that seemed more like mid-July than early May, the Eastern University Men's Lacrosse team endured the heat and emerged with a 9-3 home win over Messiah College. Eight different players scored, and Aaron Benz turned away 18 shots to secure a home game on Monday afternoon. The winner of today's game stood to host the loser. Though the Eagles (11-4, 9-2)  finish in a three-way tie for second, they are the fourth seed in the six team playoff.

"I thought our midfield guys dealt with the heat really well today," Eastern Head Coach Brandon Childs related, "[Matt]Colello and [Ben] Horton did a great job putting pressure on their midfield and wearing them down, and we cleared it well. We struggled in the heat against DeSales, but I thought we handled it today."

The Eagles picked up the first goal of the game on a great individual effort by Matt Soldano. The first year midfielder split a trio of Falcon defenders on a clear and found fellow freshman Zac Ivy on the crease. Ivy turned and snapped home his 25th of the year with 11:08 to play. Eastern then took advantage of the only Messiah penalty on the day with a man-up goal from sophomore Matt Wagner. Chris Farrar earned the assist. 

Though both teams had chances, the first period ended with Eastern up 2-0. Messiah cut that lead in half just over a minute into the second, but the Eagles were able to turn the momentum with a big transition goal from Cal Napolitano. Messiah face-off guy, J.J. Miller won 15 of 16 face-offs, but the Eagles secured the face-off after the first Messiah goal. The Falcons withstood a pair of Eastern shots and seemed poised to tie the game with a foray into the Eastern end. Horton jarred a ball loose at the top of the box and Matt Kenyon secured the ground ball and flipped it forward to Napolitano to give the Eagles a 3-1 edge.

A Messiah turnover immediately after the ensuing face-off gave the Eagles another chance, and this time Soldano finished. Eastern went up 5-1 on a good ride deep in Messiah territory. Will Johnson intercepted a pass just outside the crease and scored with 6:51 to play. The advantage stretched to 6-1 on a clever rebound goal from Napolitano. Messiah goalie Josh Stewart turned away a David Darling shot from the left, but Napolitano was waiting right on the doorstep to catch the carom and put away his second of the afternoon. 

Benz made a big save on a Heath Kupecky shot as time expired in the first half to help sustain momentum. Though Messiah won eight of nine face-offs in opening half, the two teams each had 18 ground balls at the break. Childs pointed to this stat as evidence of the work his defensive midfielders were doing in the game.

Benz made seven of his 18 stops in the third period. Messiah scored the first goal after half, but Farrar and Joey Wilmot were able to find the back of the net to put the home side up 8-2 with 15 minutes to play. John Murdock scored three minutes into the fourth as the Eagles were transitioning back to full strength after a man-down situation. Michael Hofmeister capped the scoring for the Eagles with his 20th of the year on a nifty feed from Farrar. 

After the game, the Eagles honored the contributions of the five members of the class of 2010. Game time for Monday is to be determined on Sunday.

Box Score