Five goals in the first twelve minutes eliminated any suspense as the Eagles overwhelmed an undermanned Alvernia University squad on senior day. Twelve different Eastern players scored goals in the 20-1 home win. The Eagles (9-5, 8-2 MAC) will close out the regular season at DeSales on Saturday and then will see how seeding shakes out to discover their first-round opponent for next Monday.

Ron Johnson scored on a sprint out of the midfield to start the Eastern scoring five minutes into the game. The visitors won the ensuing face-off and fired a shot in transition, but Eastern goalie Aaron Benz made a clean catch for one of his two saves on the day and fired a perfect outlet to Joey Wilmot on the run. Wilmot turned the tables and created a transition opportunity the other way and flipped a perfect pass to Chris Farrar on the left side of the crease. Farrar tucked home his first of three on the day.

Matt Soldano and Zac Ivy added unassisted tallies before Johnson scored his second of the afternoon in a man-down situation. Johsnon picked off a clearing pass and fired an overhand shot for his ninth goal of the year. Alvernia, who played only ten men, showed resolve in battling throughout and their efforts found some reward at the 13 minute mark as Sean Boyd scored on a hard dodge down the right side alley to cut the deficit to 5-1.

The Eagles held an 11-4 edge in first period shots and won the ground ball game 12-4. The Eastern depth and the brunt of the weather began to show in the second as the Eagles out-shot their guests 21-0 and won 17 ground balls to just four for Alvernia. The domination showed on the scoreboard as well as Eastern scored seven times to build a 12-1 halftime lead.

Dave Darling, Soldano, and JC Hofmeister each scored single tallies in the period and Farrar and Ivy added two. Hofmeister's tally was the first of his career. 

Tim Dempsey and Matt Mandia each scored their first goals of the year in the second half, and Billy Schwartz and Matt Wagner each scored twice. Shawn Farmer and Andy Jameson also scored.

The Eagles now sit in a three-way tie with Messiah and Lycoming with one game to play. Lycoming beat Messiah in Williamsport today. Lycoming finishes up with FDU-Florham, and Messiah plays King's Saturday. Depending on results, the Eagles could be the second, third, or fourth seed in the tournament. That information will be announced here as soon as results go final this Saturday.

Box Score