ST. DAVIDS, Pa.--Eastern University Men's Lacrosse went to work quickly against the Christopher Newport University Captains on Wednesday afternoon, scoring a goal in the first minute and jumping to a 3-0 lead.
The Eagles scored in bursts of three goals three more times en route to a 16-7 win over the Captains.
Eastern improved to 6-1 while CNU sank to 5-2.
Grant Ferguson scored a game-high four goals, his second-highest total of the season, and added an assist for the five-point game. He added seven groundballs and two caused turnovers. On one of the caused turnovers, Ferguson stripped CNU's goalie and then dumped it in from point-blank range.
Fellow seniors David Darling and Eric Waibel each recorded four points. Darling went for three goals and an assist; Waibel notched two goals and two helpers. Desmond Decker, Andrew Travers and Tim Lamb also scored two goals, and Jake Billera scored one.
Matt Lee provided an imposing presence at the faceoff X for the Eagles, winning 16-of-25 attempts, including eight of them outright.
In goal, Nick DiPiano saw 41 CNU shots come his way, 15 of which were on goal, and made eight saves.
Eastern's defense caused 12 of CNU's 20 turnovers. Jordan Norris and Mark Cyron each caused three turnovers.
CNU entered the game with a 22-for-42 clip in man-up opportunities while Eastern was just 6-for-18. Eastern made a significant push in improving that number by scoring four man-up goals on six chances. CNU went 2-for-5 in extra-man opportunities.
After taking the first quarter 3-1, Eastern started the second quarter in similar fashion with a three-goal spurt. CNU finally scored its second goal of the game with 10:01 to play in the second quarter.
A little less than five minutes later Eastern went on another three-goal tear, sparked by an acrobatic goal by freshman Jake Billera. Billera dove to grab a groundball in front of the crease and, in the same motion, released a diving shot into the back of the net.
Ferguson scored hist first of the game 2:55 before halftime to make it an 8-2 Eastern lead and then scored the first goal of the third quarter with 8:45 to play.
CNU, reeling, regained its footing a little with a goal 13 seconds later followed by another goal with 3:41 left in the quarter. Eastern, however, got the last laugh in the third quarter with a buzzer-beater shot. With three seconds left in the quarter, Ferguson inbounded the ball from the left sideline to Waibel behind the net. Waibel quickly found Travers to the right of the cage for the finish. Travers' shot hit the back of the net just as the buzzer sounded.
The Captains scored in the start of the fourth quarter, but Eastern rolled out another three-goal streak in reply. The Eagles went on to out-score the Captains 3-2 the rest of the way, including two man-up goals in the final two minutes.
The Eagles move on to the next challenge, a date with No. 20 York College on Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern stunned nationally-ranked York last year 10-9.
Box Score
