DOYLESTOWN, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Lacrosse (4-6, 1-0 MAC Freedom) opened up the MAC Freedom season with a 15-9 win at Delaware Valley University. The Eagles led 10-2 at halftime and 12-3 with five minutes to play in the third before the Aggies gained some ground back late.

"We took control of the game early," Head Coach Kevin Wallace said of the night. "Zach Bauer was dominant at the x and we took advantage of our possessions. Our attack did a nice job of understanding what they were trying to do and responding."

Bauer controlled the faceoff x with a variety of moves. He finished the game 18-of-22 with 14 ground balls and an assist. Wallace noted that the non-league schedule has put the Eastern faceoff men up against some of the best in the country. That experience, he hopes, will give Bauer and Alec Morshead an edge as they go into league games.

Mark Buannic put the Eagles up in the fifth minute. The Aggies answered with PJ Rafferty's first of two goals on the afternoon before Eastern scored four times in a five-minute stretch. Jake Billera broke the tie with an unassisted tally. Sean Fechter fed a cutting Matt Auletti for a 3-1 lead before Trevor Gallion put away back-to-back tallies. Auletti set up the first one and Sam Emig found Gallion on the run for a second.

To start the second quarter, Fechter found Auletti on a goal that looked remarkably similar to the third goal of the game. Rafferty added his second before the Eagles poured in four more to close out the half. Trent Ashton and Kyle Fanelli scored the first two. Auletti buried his third with 13 seconds to play in the half and Buannic put away his second of the day seven seconds later on a pass from Bauer. Bauer won 11-of-12 faceoffs in the first half.

Jameal Hadeed made six of his 11 saves in the first half.

Ashton had three goals and an assist in the the second half and Auletti put away his fourth to put the Eagles up 12-3 with 5:31 to play in the third period.

"Trent was really good today," Wallace said of his first-year attack. "He saw opportunities to get shots and he finished at a good rate. We got ten goals out of our starting attack. We will need that as we head into an important stretch here. We definitely have some things to work on, but today was a good step forward in a lot of ways.

The Eagles' next two games are against their post-season opponents from last year. On Wednesday, they will host Misericordia in a rematch of the last three MAC Freedom Championship games. Misericordia won the tile last year with a 6-1 win in Dallas. On Saturday, the team will travel to DeSales. the Bulldogs were the third seed in last year's tournament.