ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Jacob Myers scored two goals int he first twelve minutes of the game as Eastern University Men's Soccer picked up a 2-0 MAC Freedom win over the Visiting Misericordia University Cougars. Quentin Keibler made three stops to pick up his seventh shutout of the year for the Eagles (8-3, 2-1 MAC Freedom).

Myers scored his first goal on a long throw in from the right flank. Billy Walenda heaved the ball toward the box where Jadon Ramsing won a battle in the air to skim the ball to the back post. Myers beat his mark to the ball and slid home his third goal of the year.

Sean Dougherty nearly doubled the lead in the fifth minute on a run out of the midfield. Ramsing played a ball behind the Cougar back row to put Dougherty in alone against Patrick Hoffman. The Misericordia goalkeeper came off his line with courage and stopped Dougherty's effort from the top of the box.

A little over seven minutes later, Cade Harmon created a chance with a strong dribbling run on the left side. A Misericordia foul gave the Eagles a restart chance at the corner of the penalty box. Colin Furlong spun a ball to the back post and Myers again won the battle for a 2-0 lead.

"He gives us a big presence up there," Head Coach Jeremy Payne said in discussing the decision to move Myers up the field. "We saw that Jake Sankey could be very good in the back when he stepped in for Jadon in the beginning of the year, and this gives us more options as we look at each game." Myers was the MAC Freedom Championship MVP as a forward in his freshman season before moving into the back row last fall. 

The Eagles had several other chances to build the lead int he first half, but the Cougar defense stood strong. Hoffman made another great stop against Evan needs in the 40th minute. Needs split a pair of Misericordia defenders on the the right side and slipped into the box with the ball on his left side. Hoffman saw the play develop and was able to parry the shot attempt away as he charged the ball.

The Eagles had a 7-1 edge in first-half shots, but still held only a two-goal edge at the break.

The Cougars had a run of attacking play in the first ten minutes of the second half, but Keibler and the Eastern back row were up to the task. Keibler made his best stop of the afternoon on a 20-yard volley from Tristan Snyder.

As the half wore on, the Eagles found more space and created more chances. Myers had a couple great chances at a third turned away by Hoffman, and Sankey put a blast off the crossbar from 30 yards out. It appeared that Eastern found a third goal in the 84th minute, but the play was ruled offside.

"I still feel like we should be generating more chances," Payne said after the match. "We scored two against a team that is not giving up a lot of goals, but I think we need to keep working to get more int he run of play."

The Eagles are now tied for third with FDU-Florham in the MAC Freedom approaching the midpoint of the league schedule. Eastern will host FDU-Florham at 3:00 pm on Saturday.