WILKES-BARRE, Pa.--Eastern Men's Soccer moved into first place in the conference with a 3-0 win over the King's College Monarchs Saturday night.

The Eagles improved to 12-3-1 this season and 3-1-1 in the conference while King's dropped to 8-4-4 and 3-2-1. A win next Saturday against the FDU-Florham Devils in the final conference game will give the Eagles the best record in the Freedom Conference and home field advantage in the playoffs. Eagles head coach Mark Wagner said he was extremely proud of the way Eastern  played, especially with first place on the line.

Sophomore forward Eric Giovagnoli scored two goals in Saturday's win. He leads the team with 11 goals. Coach Wagner called Giovagnoli's play a game-changer. "Gio's pace,  tenacity and intelligence as a player causes opponents' back lines to completely change  their shape," Wagner said. "It instantly gives us a tremendous advantage, not only in how it causes them to change their shape, but also in our ability to transition into  dangerous spaces very quickly."

Giovagnoli put Eastern on the board in the 12th minute on a penalty kick. Giovagnoli  made a run and was taken down in the box, earning the PK. He put the shot on the ground towards the bottom left corner. The Monarchs'keeper got a touch on it, but was unable to keep it from spinning into the goal.

Shortly thereafter, Eastern went up 2-0 with Brandon Beaumont's fourth goal of the season. With Eastern attacking, King's failed to clear the ball out of the box; Beaumont corralled the bouncing ball and finished it with a hard strike inside the right post.

Giovagnoli deflated the Monarchs in the 70th minute, winning a ball from their goalie and finishing it, effectively putting the game out of reach with his second goal.

The Eagles' defense tallied their 10th shutout of the season and prevented the Monarchs from putting any shots on goal. Giovagnoli credited the hardwork of the backline. "Our backline, they're always on their game," he said. "Our defense is what keeps us in games."

Coach Wagner pointed out the role the team's overall formational shape on the field plays in earning shutouts. "I thought we pressed at the right moments and got compact shape at the right moments," he said. "I thought the players were extremely  disciplined at keeping the shape we wanted in the game and I think that made all the  difference in the world."  

Eastern keeper Joe Centeno exited the game at halftime with an injury and Nick Policastro was called in to keep the shutout intact. "Nick, through the course of the fall, has looked sharp," Wagner said. "We were very confident putting him in in the second half."

Giovagnoli said that the Eagles need to keep working hard in every practice the rest of the season. " The biggest game is always the next one," he said. "If we win against  FDU, we get home field advantage; obviously, that's our focus now. We can't take any team lightly, in this conference, anybody can beat anybody. We've got to play Eastern  soccer every time we step out on the field for 90 minutes."

The Eagles host PSU-Abington Monday at 3:30 p.m. and look to lock up the No. 1 seed against FDU-Florham at home Saturday in a 2:30 p.m. match.

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