EDWARDSVILLE, Pa.– For the second Saturday in a row, Eastern Men's Soccer's lone senior scored an important goal. Today, Jake Sankey finished the game-winner in the second overtime to lift his team to a 2-1 win at Wilkes University. The Eagles (8-7-1, 4-0) reamin atop the MAC Freedom with the win.

How It Happened:
The last regular-season loss in MAC Freedom for the Eagles came at Wilkes in October of of 2017.

With a 12-1 edge in shots and a 5-1 advantage in corners, the Eagles had all the play in the opening half. All that possession and position, however, yielded only a single goal. Sam Sutherland put away his third goal of the season in the tenth minute.

Sankey had two great chances to double the lead in the second half. He crushed a flying volley from 12 yards out off a cross from Reginald Lloyd in the 63rd minute. Wilkes goalkeeper Zach Tone made a great reaction save to parry the ball away. Tone got back to his feet to grab the rebound effort from Aidan Link.

Four minutes later, Derek Buhrman guided a beautiful pass through the Wilkes back line for Sankey on an overlap. Tone again was up to the task with a good save on Sankey's low shot.

The host Colonels (6-6-2, 1-3) found their equalizer early int he 79th minute. An Eastern turnover in the midfield gave Wilkes possession in deep position. A quick run up the right side turned into a cross to the near post and a goal on a deft touch to the upper part of the net.

The Eagles put five of their seven second-half shots on frame, but Tone did his work to force overtime. The Eagles took a pair of shots in the first overtime, but the game winner did not come until the second.

Playing for the win, Head Coach Jeremy Payne pushed Sankey out of his center back spot and into an attacking central midfield position. His presence high gave the Eagles extra space on the flanks. In the 103rd minute, Nik Kokolios took advantage of some of that room on the left side and whipped a cross into Buhrman near the penalty spot. Buhrman dropped a perfect pass to Sankey. The senior's first-time effort was true, and the Eagles celebrated their fourth league win of the year. 

It is Sankey's 14th career goal. Despite spending much of his career at center back, he now has one game-winner in each of his four seasons.

Coach Payne Says:
"Our first half was great today. We created chances, had the ball a lot, were purposeful in possession, and didn't conceded chances to our opponent. I thought it was very comparable to our second half against DeSales. However, we didn't put chances away like we should have and went into half time 1-0. Second half was a little different. We struggled for rhythm and didn't control as much of the game. Wilkes was able to equalize and we struggled after that as well."

"We decided to move Sankey up the field in overtime. We wanted to be aggressive. We needed to win. A tie just isn't what we could settle for. I am very happy for the guys. This is our first overtime win this year and those wins are always fun. Being 4-0 in conference is huge for us. We play two home games next week and want to continue to push for postseason and ourselves in the best possible situation."

Up Next:
The Eagles will host Misericordia on Tuesday. The Cougars, with two wins and two ties is one of three unbeaten teams in the MAC Freedom. Eastern is two points in front of Stevens (3-0-1) and and four points clear of Misericordia. The Ducks beat King's 2-1 this evening and Misericordia beat Delaware Valley. The Eagles will then host FDU-Florham on Saturday.