ST.DAVIDS, Pa.- There was a certain sense of predictability to it. Eastern University Men's Lacrosse has not lost a Freedom Conference game since the conference was formed, and the visiting Manhattanville Valiants came in looking for their first win of the year. All the statistical data suggested that the host Eagles would win going away. It turns out, that is what happened. The Eagles (9-2, 2-0) scored the first 13 goals of the game and held on for a 19-6 win.

Chris Farrar entered this afternoon's action needing just a single point to become Eastern's career leader in points, and when Manhattanville came out in a tightly packed zone, it set up perfectly for the senior attackman. Farrar scored three goals and added eight assists in the in the first 27 minutes to move himself into the top spot on both the career points and assist list. He is currently tied for the lead in career goals and single-season assists.

The Valiants opted to take away Eastern's ability to dodge downhill. As a result, the game called for a man to feed cutters on the crease. Farrar scored at the 12 minute mark when he caught an Eric Waibel pass on the doorstep. He scored again six seconds later when AJ Ryan won a face-off and found Farrar in transition. 

Matt Soldano scored on a shot from distance off a pass from Grant Ferguson midway through the period to make it 3-0. The Eagles continued to fire shots and, true to their name, the Valiant defenders stood their ground and took balls off the body. Farrar picked up his first assist of the day with 1.6 seconds left in the opening period. The play started after an Eastern shot went wide with five seconds left. Farrar established himself inbounds and fired a pass to Waibel on the doorstep. 

That goal opened the floodgates for Farrar and the Eagles. He picked up assists on the first six goals of the second period. After Zac Ivy found Ferguson at the goal line extended to make it 11-0. Farrar picked up his career-best eighth helper to Ivy with five minutes to play in the half for the 12-0 lead.

Ivy finished with three goals and an assist, and Ferguson had four goals and two helpers. Ivy scored a pair of highlight reel goals in the 12 minute run. After Dez Decker put the Eagles up 6-0 on a feed from Farrar with 11:44 to play. Ivy shoveled in a back-handed underhand shot in transition on the ensuing face-off. Ryan won the face-off and found Ferguson, who flipped it to Farrar for a pass across the face to Ivy. The whole play took less than nine seconds. Click here to see Ivy's second goal.

Up a dozen, Ivy, Ferguson, and Farrar all went to the bench, but the first attacking line returned for a man-up opportunity with three minutes to play in the period. Farrar scored his 88th career goal on a pass from Ferguson to finish his afternoon.

The Valiants got on the board on a dodge up the left ally from Jordan Kolb. Kolb fired a shot that Aaron Benz knocked away from goal, but the ball either hit an Eastern defender or Kolb in the crease and rolled into the goal.

Eastern had a 43-3 edge in shots through the first 30 minutes of action. AJ Ryan won 12-of-14 face-offs to help the Eagles to secure possession, and the Eastern midfield and close defenders held the Valiants to only one wide shot from 15 yards and a bad angle in the first 28 minutes. 

The second half saw the Eastern staff use several different combinations in all sections of the field. Kyle Gillam opened the scoring in the third period on a pass from Brock Warner, but the Valiants answered with four goals over a nine minute stretch closing the third and opening the fourth. 

Eastern scored five times in the final 13 minutes for the final margin. Warner scored twice, and Andrew Travers, Cody Ridgway, and Sterling Long added single tallies.

Benz played the first half and picked up his 38th career win in goal. Pat Groschan, Nick DiPiano, and Mark Orebiyi all saw time in the second half. All 47 Eastern players saw time in the contest.

Billy Motherway had three goals and Dom Poletto made 13 saves in goal to lead the Valiants.

The Eagles (9-2, 2-0 Freedom) will look to unlock the stingiest defense in Division III when they host King's College on Saturday. 

Box Score