EDWARDSVILLE, Pa.--Eastern University Women's Lacrosse earned its second consecutive win and its first Freedom Conference win, defeating Wilkes University 16-9 on Thursday.

Freshmen Jocelyn Paul and Shannon Wilcox combined for more than half of Eastern's goals, with Paul netting five goals and Wilcox four.

Eastern's coaching staff was excited about the offensive production from Paul and Wilcox. Assistant coach Jessie Basch noted that one of the reasons for the success of the those two players and the rest of the team was the team's success in clearing the ball today. Eastern cleared the ball successfully 17 times out of 18 opportunities. "We were moving the ball in transition safely while switching fields, getting the ball up to our attack and working the ball to get open shots on the break," Basch said.

The Eagles out shot the Colonels 37 to 23 and also collected 23 ground balls compared to the Colonels' 18.

Eagles' Lindsey Corbitt started in goal Thursday, stopping eight shots while allowing five.

Just 1:17 into the game, Colonels' Keri Meerholz opened the scoring; however, the 1-0 lead was the last lead for the Colonels the rest of the game.

Basch said she knew the Colonels would be fired up to start the game since they were trying to keep an undefeated season going. The Colonels drop to 6-1 overall with the loss and 0-1 in the conference. Eastern improves to 3-6 with the win (1-0 Freedom Conference).

Head Coach Camrin Azzarano was glad that the Eagles could start the conference season with a win. The Eagles will take a break over Easter weekend to rest and recharge before playing Manhattanville on Tuesday at 4 pm.

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