ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Lacrosse scored five times in the opening nine minutes of the half to grab a big lead on the visiting Manhattanville College Valiants in the MAC Freedom Semifinal, but it was a four-goal burst in the final two and a half minutes of the first half broke the game open. The Eagles advanced to their seventh MAC Freedom Championship game with a 20-5 win.

While fourteen different players scored for Eastern in the win, Head Coach Kevin Wallace pointed to the work Zach Bauer did at the faceoff X and the performance of his defense.

"You look at those runs we put together," Wallace said. "That's Zach winning faceeoffs and our wing guys doing their jobs." Bauer won 15-of-16 faceoffs before giving way to Alec Morshead in the second half. Bauer had eight ground balls and scored his second goal of the season.

Sean Fechter scored his first of three 86 seconds into the game. Bauer won the ensuing faceoff and went straight to goal for a 2-0 lead less than 20 seconds later. Hassan Mackey put the Eagles up with his first of three on a pass from Fecther before Gallion made it 4-0 with a strong dodge down goal-line-extended. Jimmy Kurnik found Matt Auletti in transition for a 5-0 lead with 6:13 on the clock in the opening period.

The Eastern offense went quiet for a stretch and Manhattanville closed the gap to 5-3 with 5:38 to go in the half.

Gallion scored his second of the day out of an Eastern timeout. Trent Ashton provided the service from behind the cage.

One minute later, Kyle Fanelli scored with a left-handed shot after a great fake the other way from in close. The Eagles won the ensuing faceoff and took another timeout. This time, Mackey finished off a good dodge down the alley for an 8-3 lead. Twenty-eight seconds later, Mackey set up Fechter for the final goal of the period and a 9-3 halftime edge.

Jameal Hadeed made seven of his 13 saves in the first half as Eastern had a 29-16 edge in first-half shots. The Eagles won 13-of-14 faceoffs before intermission.

The Eagles rode the momentum with three goals in the first three minutes of the second half. Eastern scored all seven third period goals. Jake Billera put away his 21st of the year in that stretch to reach 100 career points. Billera becomes just the third full-time midfielder to reach the mark. With 101, he is tied with Desmond Decker and trails Matt Soldano by four points.

"We did a really good job on defense today," Head Coach Kevin Wallace said after the game. "They have a good offense with talented players, and we held them to three goals through three quarters. Cole Millard was really good today. We matched him up with their guy, and he finished with just one assist. As a group, we played well, but I thought Cole was really good today." Millard was credited with two caused turnovers and a ground ball.

With commencement on Eastern's fields on Saturday, the Eagles will host the second-seeded Misericordia University Cougars at Ridley High School on Saturday at 6:00 pm.

Misericordia advanced to the final with a 15-5 win over third-seeded King's. The Cougars won the 2017 MAC Freedom Title with a 6-1 home win over Eastern. This will be the fifth time the two programs will meet in the final in the seven-year history of the tournament. Eastern won the first five titles and hosted Misericordia in 2013, 2015, and 2016. The Eagles beat DeSales in 2014 and FDU-Florham in 2012. Eastern beat the Cougars 11-3 on April 11. That remains Misericordia's only loss of the season.