ST. DAVIDS, Pa. –   Liz Brennan scored eight times and Eastern University Women's Lacrosse pulled away to an important 19-12 MAC Freedom win over the visiting Manhattanville College Valiants (76-, 2-2 MAC Freedom). The Eagles won 22-of-33 draws and held the Valiants to only 17-of-26 clears in the win.

The Eagles (5-6, 3-1 MAC Freedom) scored five times ina  five-minute stretch to turn a 3-3 tie into an 8-4 lead. Liz Brennan scored the first two goals of the burst. The second of those was the 100th of her Eastern career. The Swarthmore native played her first two seasons at Messiah College. With her eight goals today, she has 36 this year and 105 as an Eagles.

Julie Haggan found a cutting Mackenzie Dix to answer a Manhattanville goal, then Mehan Kosmides scored a man-up goal on a nice pass from Sabrina Campbell, and Haggan leapt high to catch a pass from Sam Brennan and score. On the afternoon. Haggan stuffed the stat sheet with four goals, three assists, six ground balls, four draw controls, and two caused turnovers.

The Eagles held a 23-7 edge in shots and led 9-5 at halftime. With Kosmides pulling the draws, Eastern won 12-of-15 in the first half.

Eastern led 12-8 with 21:36 remaining in the game before Jazzlyn Sullivan scored to start a run of six-consecutive Eastern goals. The final goal in that burst put the Eagles up 18-8 with 7:46 on the clock. Sephanie Arnold picked up a wayward pass at the restraining line and fed Liz Brennan at the edge of the crease for the finish. The Valiants scored twice in the final minute to further close the gap.

Marcie Spencer made six saves to earn the win, and Sam Brennan caused another four turnovers and picked up five more ground balls. Kosmides continued to be an impact rookie with four goals on five shots and nine draw controls.

Manhattanville beat Eastern by a goal last year and earned the third seed in the MAC Freedom Tournament. The win today, gives Eastern an important tie-breaker and a critical win in the MAC Freedom. The Eagles will travel to Wilkes on Saturday.