LANCASTER, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Soccer dropped a 4-1 decision at fourth-ranked Franklin and Marshall College (11-1). The Host Diplomats scored twice in the final six and a half minutes to put the match away. The match was a rematch of last season's NCAA Tournament second round game. Eastern earned a 1-0 win in that contest.

How It Happened:
The Eagles chose to absorb pressure and look for counter chances and that plan worked well for much of the first half. Though the Diplomats had much of the pressure, the Eastern back row kept them from getting great chances and they only had two shots on frame through the opening 42 and a half minutes.

The Diplomats broke into the scoring column after a penalty kick. Anthony Hitchcock made the first save, but Joshua Slager poked home the rebound for a 1-0 edge at half.

F & M doubled the lead in the 55th minute on a long pass into space, The Eagles, however, found an answer at the hour mark. Jake Sankey slipped a ball into Derek Buhrman in space. The rookie forward slipped home his second of the year to pull the Eagles to within a goal.

As the match progressed, the Eagles pushed out further to try to create chances. The Diplomats took advantage of a strange deflection to catch the Eagles going the wrong way in the 84th minute. Down two, the Eagles pushed forward further and the Diplomats converted in the 87th minute for the final score.

Coach Payne Says:
"I thought we executed our game plan for the first 43 minutes of the match. Then we had a mistake that led to their penalty kick and ultimately their first goal. That changed our tactics going into the second half. We gave up a second goal. I'm very happy how we continued to fight and were able to get a goal to get back in the game with a lot of time left. I think we were a little unfortunate on their 3rd goal which put the game out of reach. We got countered after not getting a foul called for us."

"F&M and Messiah are the standard in our region in a variety of ways. They have been the two programs with the most consistency over the years. But those programs bring great buy in and enthusiasm. We want to play the teams that are in the way of where we want to be. We did it last year, we are doing it this year with our scheduling, and will continue to play top programs."

"We will focus only on conference games at this point. DeSales is an important opportunity to improve our record in conference."

Up Next:
Eastern will host DeSales in a 3:00 pm Homecoming match this Saturday. Former Eastern Head Coach Dr. Wayne Rasmussen is being inducted into Eastern's Hall of Honor on Friday and will be honored at Saturday's match.