LANCASTER, Pa.– Sophomore goalkeeper Anthony Hitchcock stopped a pair of penalty kicks and made the clincher to help Eastern University Men's Soccer advance to past the University of Mary Washington Eagles (14-1-5) and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament in a penalty kick shootout.

The Eastern Eagles (17-2-2)  led early on a Colin Furlong penalty, but Mary Washington leveled the score on a goal in the 81st minute. Jake Sankey, Cade Harmon, and Jacob Myers converted to put Eastern up 3-1 in the shootout. Hitchcock buried his attempt for the final tally.

How It Happened:

Because the match between Franklin and Marshall College and Western Connecticut went into overtime, the Eastern game started nearly an hour after the scheduled 7:30 start. That extra time gave the temperature even more time to fall. The temperature at game time was just above freezing.

As the match progressed, the temperature fell.

Eastern's first goal came on a strong run out of the back from Jake Cahill. As he is done for much of the year, Cahill took a pass in the attacking third  and drove toward goal. Well after he entered the box, a Mary Washington defender missed on his challenge and caught all of Cahill. The official did not hesitate to point to the spot.

Although there was some uncertainty about who was going to take to kick, Furlong stepped to the spot and delivered his fourth goal of the year.

While Mary Washington had significant possession, the Eagles had a couple great chances in the waning moments of the first half. Andrew Fenstermacher had a shot go just high with less than five minutes to play.

Eastern absorbed pressure from much of the second half. While the Mary Washington team fired 12 shots, Hitchcock made only a single save in the period. He did not, however, lack stuff to do.  He and the Eastern defense defended cross after cross after cross on restarts and in the run of play.

The Eagles, well working very hard on defense, seemed in good position as the end of regulation year, but I'm unexpected miscue on a restart near midfield gave the Mary Washington Eagles the break they needed. After a steal and a ball over the top Mary Washington forward Jeremy Hokenson outraced the Eastern center backs and drove the ball into the lower left corner to tie to match.

The final nine minutes of regulation saw both teams attacking with a great sense of urgency. The Eastern bench thought Cahill may have drawn another penalty kick on a strong run into the box in the 86th minute, but the official judged the contact not worthy of a call. The Mary Washington Eagles had a golden opportunity on a volley from inside the box with 30 seconds left that went just over the crossbar.

Overtime went back-and-forth as well. Both teams left no ball and pursued and the defense or pressure was constant.

Eastern had a corner kick late, but there would be no eleventh hour game winner, and the game would go to penalties.

Penalties did not seem to be in Eastern's favor. The Eagles came into today's match having missed three consecutive kicks from he spot, and Colin Furlong had already shown his hand with the made penalty kick in regulation. Eastern team, however, did have one advantage.

With Mary Washington having to shoot penalties in their conference semifinal match, the Eastern coaching staff at least had some idea about what the Mary Washington shooters would do. The staff, however, did not want to overwhelm Hitchcock with extra information. Hitchcock was given information on a pair of kickers. Only one of those actually wound up shooting.

It is the fourth time that the group of players who shot have been to a penalty kick shootout. Eastern won twice on penalties in 2016, but fell in the  2017 Mac Freedom Championship Game.

Whatever the memories or mindset was, the first Eastern shooters all hit quality shots. Sankey set the tone with a ball in the upper window. Harmon and Myers also delivered no-doubt shots.

With a 3-1 lead, the Eagles only need to make one more or get another Hitchcock save two advance. Hitchcock, who forgot fro a moment that he was scheduled to kick, delivered the final shot.

And excellent ball striker, the Sophomore stayed focused and made sure to keep the ball under the bar. His hard shot gave the Mary Washington goalkeeper no time to react and sent the Eastern crowd into a frenzy.

Up Next:
The Eagles will face the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats for the second time this season. Eastern won the first match 1-0 on a goal off a corner kick. The Diplomats advanced after an end-to-end battle with Western Connecticut. F & M led for nearly the entire match, but West Conn scored in the 90th minute to send the match to overtime. An own goal in the 103rd minute sent the No. 17 Diplomats through.

The match tomorrow will start at 5:00 pm.