ST. DAVIDS, Pa.--Eastern University Field Hockey scored three second-half goals en route to a 4-1 victory over Manhattanville College.
The Eagles returned to .500 (7-7) with the win while the Valiants fell to 9-5.
More importantly, Eastern remains unbeaten (4-0) in conference play.
The Eagles continued their aggressive offensive attack, dominating time of possession, firing 18 shots and earning 15 penalty corners. All four of Eastern's goals came after penalty corners. The Eagles have been working all season on taking advantage of penalty corner opportunities.
Eastern's Sarah Webb put the Eagles on the scoreboard in the 25th minute. A minute before scoring, Webb reentered the game, substituting in for Alexa Borrelli. Webb inserted the penalty corner then gathered up the loose ball by the right post and smacked it into the cage.
Once the second half started, Manhattanville pressured Eastern's defense, earning three consecutive corners. On the third one, Manhattanville's Amanda DeChent scored her 11th goal of the season, tying the game at one.
After the defensive lapse, Eastern entered lockdown mode. "The second half, I was very pleased with how we took away their high attack," Eagles' coach Camrin Azzarano said. "I thought our defense played a great job. There was much more balance between the forwards and the backs. We covered the field solidly and there weren't gaps and breakdowns like there were in the first half."
With the game tied, Eastern responded in the 44th minute. The Eagles took advantage of another penalty corner. Carly Friedman inserted the ball, and Kelby Bolton lofted a shot that Manhattanville's goalie Amy Hilton had to reach up to deflect. Jess Jaindl set up by the right post and tapped the deflection into the goal.
The Eagles added two more insurance goals. Abby Wagner tipped in a stroke by Yvonne Herbster in the 63rd minute. With the assist, Herbster tied the school record for 40 career assists.
With less than a minute remaining, Kelby Bolton scored off an assist from Brittany Moyer.
Eastern Field Hockey looks to continue its conference success against FDU-Florham in an away game Wednesday.
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