ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- After scuffling through a sloppy first half,
Eastern University Men's Lacrosse outscored the visiting Spartans of
Aurora University 7-1 in the second half to pull away to an 11-7
non-league win. Kyle Gillam led the way with a goal and three assists
and Andrew Travers added three goals as the Eagles improved to 3-0 on
the year on a foggy and wet Olson Field.
Even with wet strings and limited visibility, both teams got off to
quick starts in their offensive zones. Eric Waibel connected of a pass
from Grant Ferguson only 43 seconds into the contest. Just over a minute
later, Jordan Williams answered with a long-range effort for the
Spartans. Travers scored off a misdirection play with Desmond Decker to
briefly put the Eagles up, but the Spartans tallied three straight to
grab a 4-2 lead with a little less than three minutes to play in the
first period. Travers bounced his second of the day into the upper
corner to close the first quarter scoring.
Ferguson tied the game early in the second period of a strong dodge and
underhand finish on the crease. The Eagles were unable to build on the
moment and the Spartans scored twice more in the half to lead 6-4 at the
break. The Eastern struggles were best represented by a moment in the
second period following four penalties. Though three of the four
penalties were on Aurora, the last penalty was on Eastern, so the
Spartans started the man-down situation with the ball.
Despite the efforts of a pair of Eastern defenders, Max Obriecht
recovered a ground ball and kept possession for the Spartans until
Trevor McNamara ran in a man-down goal. The Eagles then had a two-on-one
situation in the face-off box, but Aurora midfielder Will Bradshaw
out-dueled two Eastern players for a ground ball and the Eastern man-up
unit did not see the ball for the entire two minute situation.
In the second half, the Eagles found a way to create transition
opportunities. Eastern forced five Aurora turnovers in the clearing game
and capitalized with several goals. Gillam opened the scoring in the
second half when he collected a Dave Darling miss and powered his way to
the front of the cage. Darling scored to tie the score after the
Eastern ride forced a turnover in front of the Aurora bench.
With the Eagles up a man, Waibel picked up his second of the day with
just under six minutes to go in the period off a feed from Gillam to
give the Eagles a short-lived 7-6 lead. Jason Kozial scored from
McNamara to tie the game with 2:44 to play in the third.
The fourth period belonged to the home team. The Eagles increased their
defensive pressure up the field. That pressure created multiple scoring
chances. After Gillam forced a turnover on a Spartan clearing attempt,
the senior midfielder found Travers on the doorstep for an 8-7 edge. Tim
Lamb then over-powerred his defender on a solo effort on the ensuing
possession.
With eight and a half minutes to play in the game, Grant Ferguson scored
to put the Eagles up 10-7. That goal, his seventh of the year, also
marked his 198th career point. With that effort, he passes Chris Farrar
on the Eastern career points list.
The Eagles spread the game with a three goal lead and Jake Billera
finished the scoring after slipping through a double-team with three
minutes to play.
"We played a little bit like the day," Eastern head coach Kevin Wallace
commented, "We will have to get better for this weekend, but it is good
to pick up a win over a team with a winning history." The Spartans (1-3)
made the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year. The Eagles will
play at Virginia Wesleyan this Saturday.
Nick DiPiano made 13 saves in the win. Brian Richter made 17 saves for the visitors.
Box Score
