ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– With a little less than five minutes to play in the first quarter, Head Coach Kevin Wallace called a timeout with his team trailing the visiting Wilkes University Colonels, 4-1. Eastern University Men's Lacrosse responded with a ten-goal on the way to a 19-7 win. The victory puts the Eagles (8-6, 5-0) in the MAC Freedom tournament and is another important step toward earning the top seed. Trent Ashton had five goals and Mark Buannic finished with three goals and four assists.

Out of the timeout, Jake Billera found Hassan Mackey on the edge of the crease to cut the deficit to 4-2. Seconds later, The Eagles forced a turnover in the ride and Buannic scored into an open net. Ashton forced the turnover with a good check.  Buannic fed Ashton for the game-tying goal in transition with four seconds to play in the period. Bryan Mizell ran the ball into the offensive end after a ball went out of bounds and found Buannic heading toward goal. The big junior moved toward the middle of the field to draw a defender and fed Ashton on the crease. 

"We just needed to settle down and focus," Wallace said of the timeout. "We did a better job on faceoffs and that made a huge difference. With the school year ending, we have had a lot of stuff going on, and we did not have particularly good practices after the Manhattanville game. We cannot afford to have slow starts like that."

The momentum of the game had swung completely.

Zach Bauer won the first six faceoffs of the second quarter, and the Eagles scored four goals in a five-minute stretch in the middle of the period. The Eagles had kill a penalty in the early part of the period. Hans Deutsch checked a ball loose and Jameal Hadeed scooped up a ground ball behind his cage The Eagles ran the clear and then took the lead on a Sam Emig goal midway through a Wilkes penalty. Trevor Gallion provided the pass. 

Ninety seconds later, Buannic provided a highlight on another transition. Ethan Joseph forced a turnover at the top of the box and raced into the attacking end. He fed Buannic at the edge of the crease. Without turning to look at the goal, Buannic slung a backhand shot past an unsuspecting Wilkes goalie. After Bauer won another faceoff, Buannic set up Matt Auletti on the doorstep for his 20th goal and a 7-4 lead.

Bauer won 12-of-18 faceoffs and actually saw his percentage in conference action drop. The sophomore has won 75-of-97 in league play. He is up to 62.1 percent overall.

Bauer won the next faceoff, but the Eagles needed a turnover to get the ball back after a shot that was not backed up. Chris Durning picked off a pass to get the ball back and Buannic completed his hat trick on a pass from Emig with 6:12 to go in the half. Ashton scored 72 seconds later and Sean Fechter closed out the half with a goal from the right alley. With Bauer earning possessions, the Eagles had a 21-3 edge in second-quarter shots.

The Eagles scored four in the third and five in the fourth while only allowing three second-half goals.

Durning, a defender, scored his first two career goals in the second half. The sophomore standout finished with a team-high eight ground balls and three caused turnovers. With 77 ground balls this year, Durning already has the sixth-highest single-season ground ball total in program history. The three players with higher single-season totals were all faceoff specialists.

Early in the fourth, the Eagles had to play two-men down for a full minute after Deutsch picked up a slashing penalty forty seconds into a two-minute man-down situation. Brett MacDonald forced a turnover and the Eagles managed to clear and run off clock against two extra men. Ashton converted the possession into a man-down goal after the Deutsch penalty released.

Gerrick Mundt and Braxton Brent each scored their first goals of the year to wrap up the scoring.

Jameal Hadeed stopped ten shots and allowed five goals in 45 minutes before giving way for MacDonald who made six stops and allowed two. Adam Grant made one save in finishing the game.

The Eagles can secure the top seed in the tournament with a  home win over FDU-Florham on Tuesday. That game starts at 4:00.