LANCASTER, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Soccer kept its season going with a 1-0 NCAA Tournament Second Round win over the host Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats (14-4-3).
Sam Sutherland scored in the ninth minute and the Eastern defense made the the goal stand with a stellar defensive effort to earn a twelfth shutout of year.
How it Happened:
The Eagles (18-2-2) had a pair of chances from
Billy Walenda early, but his two shots drifted just wide. The senior made his mark on the goal. After taking a ball off his chest on the left flank, Walenda bent an early ball in behind the F & M back line. Sutherland was in a good spot on the back post. He settled a ball on his first touch, and his second touch was true for his seventh goal of the year. It was the third time this year that the sophomore midfielder has scored the only goal in a 1-0 win. Eastern is 9-1 in 1-0 matches this fall.
The Eagles had additional chances in the first half, but the Diplomats, with the need to chase the game had the territorial advantage as the half progressed. The Diplomats finished the first with a 10-7 edge in shots, and both goalkeepers made three saves.
The second half saw Eastern play very intentionally with good defensive shape. The team, according to Head Coach
Jeremy Payne, wanted to force the Diplomats to play in front. Each of the Eastern forwards played with the intent of channeling the Diplomat attack to a side. The midfield and back row was then able to generate some outstanding counter-attacking opportunities and some chances on restarts.
Liam Harmon played a ball across the face of goal in the 70th minute that slipped just past
Alex McGlynn and
Andrew Fenstermacher. Moments later Walenda had a chance for a volley on the back post on a corner kick.
While the Eagles had chances, The Eastern back row stood strong in front of
Anthony Hitchcock. The sophomore keeper made two second half saves and did well to control his box, but
Jacob Myers and
Jake Sankey kept the ball away with great wins on balls in the air.
The Diplomats had a header from a deep position slip just wide in the 80th minute, and the Eagles blocked a flurry of shots in the box moments later.
The match took an unfortunate turn following an Eastern restart deep in the Diplomat end. A short clear went over the head of
Colin Furlong. The senior midfielder reached back and threw a leg at the ball at the same time a Diplomat defender went to head it. Furlong's high boot missed the ball and caught the defender in the head. The official went to his pants pocket and showed a straight red.
The Eagles had to defend for the final three and a half minutes with only nine players in front of Hitchcock. The sophomore goalkeeper made a strong save on a header with 2:30 on the clock and made another on a chance from inside the box with two minutes to play.
Both
Cade Harmon and Sankey had critical defensive headers in the final minute. The game ended with the ball in Hitchcock's hands.
Coach Payne Says:
"We wanted to force them to play through us. They are a team that has found success playing direct, so we dropped off a little and focused on keeping our shape where it needed to be. Our center backs were really good. Jacob Myers just won his battles and Sankey did a really nice job organizing us. They complement each other really well. Those two and Jake Cahill all played the full 200 minutes this weekend. Cahill was not as much of a factor going forward tonight, but he had a couple moments. He was great defensively."
"Billy delivered an excellent ball on the goal. He took it off his chest well and bent the ball in perfectly. Sam has a knack for scoring big goals."
"That was a tough decision on the red card. I'm pretty sure Colin never saw the player. We will take some days off to get our legs back under us. Rest is very important. Then we will work on how we will play our next match. We will have to make some adjustments, but we have had guys step up when people are unavailable for matches."
"This was a great win for our program. We have a strong group of seniors, and we get another week. That's exciting."
Up Next:
The Eagles, now unbeaten in 18-straight games, will advance to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. They will play the winner of the match between Rochester and SUNY-Brockport at a to-be-determined location. No Eastern men's soccer team, in the 60-year history of the program, has won 18 matches.
