CENTER VALLEY, Pa.- Eastern University Men's Lacrosse won 18-of-27 faceoffs and pulled away to an 18-6 Freedom Conference win at DeSales University on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Eric Waibel scored five goals, and Dave Darling and Dez Decker each scored three times to lead the Eagles to their 22nd straight regular season win in Freedom Conference play.

The host Bulldogs pressed out in the early going and frustrated the Eastern attack for the opening eight minutes of the contest. Decker then solved the DeSales pressure with two straight unassisted goals just over a minute apart. Dave Darling added his first of the day on a pass in transition from Grant Ferguson to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead before the hosts scored with two minutes to go in the first period. 

Kyle Gillam scored on a beautiful dive across the front of the crease to put the Eagles up 4-1. DeSales picked up an unnecessary roughness penalty in the closing seconds of the first period, so the Eagles elected to hold the ball and take possession to start the second with 41 seconds of man advantage play. Eastern did not need the full 41 seconds. Waibel lit the lamp for a 5-1 lead on a feed from Decker. Eastern's man-up unit finished with three goals on five chances.

Thirty seconds after Waibel scored, Darling collected his second goal to give the Eagles a 6-1 edge. Coming into the game today, the Eagles (12-3, 5-0) had not allowed a Freedom Conference foe to score six goals in a game. The Bulldogs surprised the Eagles with a man-down goal midway through the second, but the Eagles answered with Darling's third of the day and closed out the period on Gillam's second on a feed from Darling. Eastern had a 23-15 edge in first-half shots. The Bulldogs only put five of their fifteen shots on goal. Bulldog goalie Matt Warnken, on the other hand, stopped eight Eastern shots in the first half hour.

The Eagles fired eight shots in the second half before Decker finally connected with his third of the afternoon. The junior midfielder now has 16 goals on the season. Forty-nine seconds later, Waibel completed his hat trick. The Bulldogs would get two goals in the final five minutes of the third period, but the Eagles found the net three times. Waibel connected for two more and Ferguson dropped in his 37th of the season. 

Center Valley native Jake Billera scored three minutes into the fourth to put Eastern up ten. DeSales rallied with two straight scores before the Eagles finished with the final four goals of the afternoon. Waibel, Andrew Travers, Grant Smith, and David Hipp had the final four goals. 

Nick DiPiano recorded nine saves to record the win in goal for the Eagles. Jameal Hadeed stopped one shot in the final six minutes. Matt Lee won 8-of-12 faceoffs and Joe Palo earned 10 wins in his 15 attempts at X.

Now 5-0 in Freedom play, the Eagles are a half game ahead of the FDU-Florham Devils, who are also unbeaten in the league. Eastern travels to Madison, N.J., to take on FDU on Tuesday evening. Since every other Freedom team has at least two losses, Eastern is guaranteed a home game on April 29. 

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