Eastern University Men's Soccer continues its season in the Sectional Round of the NCAA Tournament. The games, which were originally scheduled to be played on Shoemaker Field at Messiah College have been moved north to Rochester. This 11th hour decision came after 7 inches of wet heavy snow hit the Harrisburg area on Thursday. With temperatures in the low 40's clearing Messiah's saturated natural grass field was not an option.

The games will now be played on the artificial turf surface at the Edwin Fauver Stadium at the Brian F. Prince Athletic Complex on the campus of the University of Rochester. The move puts the Eagles into a scenario where they are playing a true road game, but it also puts the team on a more familiar surface.

It Is the first trip to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the program. Eastern will play the No. 9 University of Rochester Yellow Jackets at 1:30 pm following the opening match between the Messiah College Falcons and the SUNY-Cortland Red Dragons. The Red Dragons are ranked sixth in the latest United Soccer Coaches National Poll and Messiah is first.

As the only team in the group without a single-digit number in front of its name, the Eastern Eagles will likely have to stick to a formula that has worked for much of the season. They will defend well, try to possess in the front third, and find a timely goal or two from an unexpected source. The Eagles have nine different players with game-winning goals in their 18 wins this year. Jacob Myers has four and Cade Harmon and Sam Sutherland each have three. Sutherland, who is from Rochester, scored the only goal of the match in Eastern's win over Franklin & Marshall on Sunday.

Goalkeeper Anthony Hitchcock has played a major role in the team's run of success. He is 15-0-2 with nine shutouts in his 17 starts. The sophomore made two big stops in a penalty kick shootout win over Mary Washington on Saturday. While his shot-stopping has been very good, his ability to control his box in the air and change the field position battle with his kicks has been critically important to protecting leads. Eastern is 9-1 in 1-0 matches this fall.

The Opponent:
Rochester (14-2-2) plays in the University Athletic Association. The Yellowjackets are one of three teams from that league still alive in the NCAA Tournament and one of five teams to get a bid. They won a a pair of 2-0 matches at home to reach the third round.

It is the second meeting between the two teams and the second meeting in the NCAA Tournament. Eastern won 2-0 when the two sides met in 2016. Eight players who started for Rochester on Sunday played in the match in 2016. Eastern has six players on the roster who played in that match.

Bryce Ikea (7 goals 5 assists) Aiden Miller (5 goals 1 assist) and Josh Cooley (5 goals)  lead the Rochester attack. Like the Eagles, the Yellowjackets have made their mark at the defensive end. They have only allowed three goals to non-league opponents and only 11 overall. Senior goalkeeper Patrick Conway has seen the bulk of the action in goal for Rochester.

The Yellowjackets are in the NCAA Tournament for the 19th time in program history. They fell in Grantham to Messiah in the National Quarterfinals last fall.

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