EDWARDSVILLE, Pa.--Eastern University Men's Soccer secured a Freedom Conference playoff bid with a 4-0 win over the Wilkes University Colonels in Monday afternoon's rescheduled game.
Eastern improved to 11-5-1 on the season and 4-2-1 in conference play.
Each of Eastern's top four goal scorers scored in the win. Coach Mark Wagner said it was good for his top scorers to be in form with a playoff bid on the line.
Mitch Osterhouse put the Eagles on the board in the 11th minute after receiving a through-ball from Brandon Reichart. Osterhouse then completed the score with a lob over the goalie for his fourth of the season.
Josh Martin scored in the 17th minute for Eastern's second goal. Braden Gross earned the assist. Martin increased his season total to five.
Brandon Reichart scored the Eagles' third goal of the half in the 36th minute. Reichart finished a free kick in front of the goal for his seventh of the season.
Braden Gross netted his 10th goal, the team high, three minutes into the second half. Osterhouse fed Gross the ball in the middle and Gross knocked it just inside the left post.
The Eagles controlled the time of possesion and came out with intensity. "We avoided coming out flat and put three away in the first half," Wagner said. "Our guys came out fired up. I was pleased by their response [to dealing with downtime in rescheduling the game]."
Wagner said the Eagles scored within the first minute of the game off a restart, but had it called back on an offsides call.
Eastern out shot Wilkes 18 to 10 and earned nine corners to Wilkes' three.
Jon Crowder and Matt Lieg carried out the tag-team shutout. The Eagles have shut out opponents eight times this season.
With the win, Eastern enters the first round of the Freedom Conference playoffs on Thursday. The Eagles will be on the road. The result of tonight's DeSales vs. FDU-Florham game determines where the Eagles will play. If DeSales wins, the Eagles will play at Manhattanville. If DeSales loses or ties, the Eagles will play at DeSales.
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