ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- In 2010, Eastern University Men's Lacrosse traveled to FDU-Florham for an important MAC game and the team, then laden with freshmen manning nearly every role, played very young and took an 11-4 loss. With a full year under their collective belts since that game, the Eagles turned the tables with a convincing 8-2 home win.

With all the sophomores on the Eastern roster, it is somewhat ironic that some of the biggest plays in the game might have been made by a freshman. Andy Jameson scored twice in the second period, including once with seven seconds to play, to send the Eagles to the locker room up 4-2. The goals were the first of his career for the versatile midfielder from State College.

Jameson's first tally came on a great pass from Zac Ivy after an extended period of possession. His shot from in front barely crossed the line after a deflection from a defender and the goalie, but it put the Eagles up 3-1.

"It was awesome, it was my first collegiate goal," Jameson said, "I watched it trickle across the goal line, it was a great moment." The possession had started nearly three minutes earlier after Chris Farrar saved a clear with a tremendous ground ball in traffic. The Eagles earned six shots and forced the Devils to take a timeout in the span. After the game Coach Childs talked about the importance of winning the 50/50 balls and that instance proved to be a microcosm of the game. The Eagles held a commanding 39-22 edge in ground balls for the contest.

Jameson added his second career goal as time was drawing to a close. It appeared that the visiting Devils, down 3-2, were looking to hold for the last shot of the half, but Ryan Cassidy and Donovan Marinez forced a turnover and started the clear. Jameson tucked home a pass from Ron Johnson to end the half.

The first period started with each team taking a penalty, but neither team found the net until Ron Johnson scored on a 12 yard shot after a pass from Will Johnson. Will Johnson would finish with three assists on the day. The Devils answered a minute later when Pat O'Brien found space in the right side alley and fired a shot that crept in under the crossbar.

The Eagles grabbed the lead on a Farrar goal in the waning seconds of the first period. Will Johnson drew the defense to him near the top and found his classmate on the back side for an eight yard shot with 7 seconds left.

"We've never beaten FDU and last year they really took it to us." Coach Childs said when talking about getting to an early lead, "The biggest thing was that we were able to generate a shot within the first 20 seconds that hit the post. That showed our guys that we can really run with it and really get going." The Eagles owned a 19-16 advantage in shots in the first half. 

FDU controlled both face-offs in the third period, but the Eagles had nearly all the possession. Dave Darling scored the only goal of the frame on a 12-yard laser from Matt Soldano. The visitors had took only three shots in the period.

Soldano gave the Eagles a 6-2 lead off Will Johnson's pass just after the start of the fourth period and then Zac Ivy made the advantage 7-2 on the goal of the game. Farrar hit the post on a shot and the Devils were in a clear. The Eastern attackmen were in pursuit of the ball and the ball found it's way back to the FDU goalie. Farrar checked the ball free and battled for the ground ball between the goalie and another defender. He won the ball, pulled it to his ear and fired a pass to Ivy who was able to elude on onrushing defender and roll the ball into the empty goal. 

"I kinda thought I was gonna get it because he looked pretty off balance." Farrar said of the check and ground ball, "Coach told me to pass it to Darling and I just lobbed it up to one of them. I knew one of them would catch it. If you throw it to either of them, they're gonna catch it."

"A lot of teams concede the clear." Childs said, "We don't concede anything. We try to get it back. It's something that our attackmen are very good at. Ivy gets it back a lot, it was great to see Chris do it this time." For the day, the Eastern ride caused seven turnovers.

Will Johnson closed out the scoring with an unassisted tally for his tenth of the year. 

The Eagles have allowed just 13 goals in five conference games. To a man, the Estern defenders talked about the work of their midfielders and many pointed to the work of Brendan Stouber in picking up ground balls and doing little things. They also referenced the work of the attack in keeping possession.

"Team defense leads to possession and then we get our rest," said Marinez a first year defender from California, "We had to play our game.  This game definitely sets the tone for the next four games. This four-game stretch is what our season comes down to."

Aaaron Benz continued his strong play in goal with 10 saves.

Eastern (6-3, 5-0 MAC) will travel to Messiah on Saturday and then journey to Chester to take on the defending champion Widener Pride in a week. They will finish the four game stretch against 2010 playoff teams a week from Saturday with a home game against Lycoming.

In looking to the Messiah game, many of the players referenced the season-ending loss last year, but Childs insists that their focus will be on the present. "The two things that we can control  are sticking to our game plan and  always getting 50/50 balls. It could be us against anyone on Saturday and we are just going to focus on those two things. Last year is last year. We are both different teams now."

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