Eastern University's men's soccer team defeated the Centenary Cyclones 4-1 in this afternoon's home match. Dexter Lamparter left his mark on the field. The first year midfielder notched his first collegiate hat trick.

The Eagles jumped into possession early. The connected passes well and found a good rhythm with the ball. The Cyclones had not registered a shot and the Eagles had four when the Cyclones took advantage of an opportunity. In the 13th minute, Alex Walters found the ball at his feet after the Eagles scrambled to block a series of attempts. Centenary's junior forward executed a clean turn and blasted a shot to the far post.

"I thought we had the better of the play in the first 15 minutes by far," said Head Coach Mark Wagner. "But when they scored, we obviously had to chase the game a little bit. I was proud of our guys because they kept their composure and kept the speed of play where it needed to be. We continued to possess and move the ball and eventually, it paid off."

The pay-off came in the 31st minute. After a series of high headers from both teams within the Centenary goalmouth, a spinning ball slipped through junior keeper Jason Rogers' hands an into the goal.

The second half looked much like the first with Eastern control and dominating the possession of play. There was more action in the middle of the field than in either offensive third, until Lamparter got to work.

In the 72nd minute, he received a ball from junior teammate Alex Schweitzer. Schweitzer took a free kick from inside the midfield line that rocketed into the box. Lamparter settled the ball after a Cyclone mis-clear and blasted a shot into the far post, ricocheting into the back of the net.

Just three minutes later, he beat a pair of Centenary defenders with a dazzling display of footwork before unleashing a dipping shot that caromed off the crossbar before landing inside the goal.

To round out his scoring trifecta, with two minutes left in the game, Lamparter received another pass from Gross and twisted his way into and out of a spin move before slotting a shot into the right side of the net.

"The third goal felt the best because it gave me the hat trick, but it's always fun to score," said Lamparter. "I've never done that move in college, so I guess it works...overall, I thought we played well. We started well and the coaches keep telling us to do that."

Lamparter also emphasized that immediately after the game, the coaches were looking forward to a pair of big games next week.

The Eagles travel to Arcadia on Tuesday and will open their Freedom Conference slate at Misericordia on Wednesday.

Box Score