ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Early on, it did not look good. Only a few days after dropping a MAC Freedom test at Misericordia, the five-time defending champion Eastern University men's lacrosse team trailed by three on three separate occasions in the first half. The Eagles scored the first eight goals of the second half and held on for an 11-8 win over the visiting DeSales University Bulldogs. Bryan Goetz scored five times and Mark Buannic tallied four goals.

The visiting Bulldogs (4-5, 1-1 MAC Freedom) scored on their first four shots on goal and led 4-1 with 6:20 left in the first quarter. The quick start prompted the Eastern coaching staff to bring Brett McDonald on in goal.

"Jameal has been hurt and has missed a lot of practice and Brett played well on Wednesday," Head Coach Kevin Wallace said when asked about his decision to make a change away from his first-team All-Conference goalie. "We have great confidence in our depth at that position and Jameal just did not have it today."

The change seemed to spark the Eagles, but the positive change was more noticeable on the defensive end than it was on the offensive end. Neither team scored until Tim Lamb powered his way to the front of the cage with 4:43 left in the half.  DeSales answered with a goal with two minutes left to restore a three-goal lead. Elliot Moore found Goetz in the right alley for a goal with 30 seconds left, and it seemed that the Eagles might go to the locker room within two goals.

The Bulldogs won the ensuing faceoff and Justin Wilson beat McDonald for his second of the game with only five seconds to play. Despite the three-goal deficit, the Eastern coaching staff did not panic.

"We really just talked about playing faster and playing for the guy next to you," Wallace said when asked about halftime adjustments. "We had some bad turnovers in the first half, but I think the guys needed to loosen up and play more free."

Jake Pousson caught a pass from Goetz on the crease and powered home his 11th of the year less than ninety seconds into the second half.

Both teams then had possessions and it seemed that next goal would go a long way toward determining where the game was going to go. Chris Durning won a battle for a ground ball to start the decisive possession and Moore found Buannic on the doorstep. Buannic caught the ball facing backwards and realized that the DeSales goalie was leaving the crease to try to force a turnover. Buannic absorbed the blow and in one motion. slipped a back-handed shot into the goal to pull the Eagles to within a goal.

Ninety seconds later Matt Martin made a nice dodge on an isolation play behind the goal and found Goetz with some room in the right alley. The senior midfielder fired an overhand shot for eight yards out to tie the score. The Eagles grabbed the lead eighty second later on a similar play onf the opposite side. It was Pousson who created the goal and Buannic who ripped a shot over the off-stick shoulder of the DeSales goalie.

Zach Bauer won two critical faceoffs in the period to help keep the momentum going. The freshman got some help from Durning to win the first faceoff the second half to earn the possession that ended with a left-handed finish and a two goal lead. The lead grew to 9-6 on another Goetz finish after a good feed from Moore. Sean Fechter scored a minute later to stretch the lead to 10-6 before Goetz scored a 'how did he do that' goal to close out the run.

The Bulldogs scored twice before Buannic finished off the scoring with a shot clock on and 2:28 on the clock. 

After the game, Wallace had good words about a trio of freshmen who stepped up when the team was short-handed.

"Durning was awesome today." Wallace said. "Ethan [Joseph] and Bauer also made big plays." Durning caused three turnovers and collected nine ground balls. Joseph had three ground balls and an assist and Bauer won 11-of-20 faceoffs. McDonald made eight stops to pick up his first collegiate win. The freshman goalie also won several races to back up shots that resulted in Eastern possession.

The Eagles are at FDU-Florham for a rare Thursday night game and then will return to action after the Easter weekend at home on Wednesday April 19th against Manhattanville.