CHESTER, Pa.- Three minutes into a non-league game against Widener University, Eastern University Women's Lacrosse held a 3-0 lead. The fast start, however, was not enough as the host Pride reeled off eight straight goals and emerge with a 20-9 win.

The Eagles controlled the first two draws of the contest and converted those chances into goals from Shannon Wilcox and Juila Furniss. Widener controlled the next draw, but Eastern earned a stop with a goalkeeper save from Cortney Andes and converted the clear into a third goal. Victoria Graham tucked home the finish against good pressure from the Widener defense. 

The Eagles continued to have good success on the draws through much of the period, but an aggressive Widener defense was able to force turnovers in the middle third of the field and convert possession into goal-scoring chances. The Pride tied the game on a free position goal with 18:06 on the clock and extended the lead to 8-3 with just under nine minutes to play in the period.

The Eagles got a goal back on a good finish from Angalena Malavenda on a pass out of a double-team by Sara Blaylock. Widener responded with two goals from Julia Costello to claim a 10-4 lead with 30 seconds left in the half. 

Blaylock gave the visiting Eagles some positive momentum going into the intermission with a nice solo effort to close the gap to 10-5. Widener held a 14-8 advantage in shots in the opening period. 

After the two sides traded goals to start the second half, Widener (2-0) scored eight of the next nine goals to pull away to a 19-7 lead with nine minutes to play. Though the Eagles were much more successful in taking care of the ball against the aggressive Widener defense, the Pride held a decisive 11-3 advantage in second-half draw controls to earn the lion's share of possession.

Blaylock and Furniss added goals in the final six minutes before Costello scored her eighth of the day with 25 seconds left for the final margin. 

Box Score