ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Soccer earned rallied from an early deficit to top the visiting King's College Monarchs 3-1 in the program's final MAC Freedom Championship match. The Championship is the fourth in five years for the program.

How It Happened:
The Monarchs (15-5-1) went up on a goal on a long throw-in in the fourth minute.

The Eagles (11-9-1) then grabbed control of both field position and possession and began to create chances. That pressure eventually paid dividends. The equalizer came in the 21st minute. After a good stretch of possession, Julio Ardon made the decisive pass to find Sam Sutherland in space on the right flank. Sutherland hit his first touch across the face of the goal where Nik Kokolios met the ball and slammed it home for his second goal of the year.

The Eagles put seven shots on frame and had five corner kicks in the first half.

Just after the hour mark, Buhrman put the Eagles up with his team-best eighth goal of the year. After a free kick into the box, Ardon won a loose ball and fed Buhrman on the left side. The rookie forward hit a left-footed shot from a tight angle for his second game-winner of the MAC Freedom Tournament. Five minutes later, Ardon delivered a pass into space behind the King's back row. Alex McGlynn, Eastern's left back, had made an earlier run and tracked the ball perfectly. He slipped a shot in for his first goal of the year.

Eastern finished the match with a 16-15 edge in shots and an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks. The Eagles put 12 of their attempts on goal. The Monarchs, on the other hand, only put five of their shots on target. 

Anthony Hitchcock finished with four saves to earn the win.

Though they reached the Championship three times in the first seven years in the league, the Eagles did not win a MAC Freedom Championship until breaking through with a win at King's in 2015. The Eagles followed up that win with a victory in a penalty kick shootout at Misericordia in 2016. After falling in penalties in the finals in 2017, the Eagles have now won the last two with home wins over King's. 

With MAC realignment, this group will not have the opportunity to pursue a three-peat. The Eagles will join the other side of the MAC starting next fall.

Jake Sankey played in four MAC Freedom Championship matches in his career. The lone senior on the Eastern roster had a critical role in leading this year's squad back to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles started four freshmen in the match and ten first-year players played significant minutes. Sam Sutherland and Hitchcock are the only two juniors on the roster. 

With the victory, the Eagles advance to the NCAA Tournament next weekend. Times, locations and opponents will be announced Monday.

Coach Payne Says:
"I'm very proud of the guys. I am not sure how many people that pay attention to d3 soccer had us winning the conference and being where we are at now. We have faced a lot of change and adversity over the last year. More than half of our roster turned over, mostly to graduation. We had a great staff last year, and all those guys were able to move on to the next thing. So we had two new assistants . We had a very difficult first month of our season with playing a lot of tough teams, but I think that we were better for being in those games, even though we didn't get results. 

"I attribute today's result to having a growth mindset. This group has gotten so much better since August and September. We are much better than we were a month ago."

"I am so happy for Jake. He had done so much work that goes unseen to get this group where we are. I am so proud of him. He deserves this and is the heart and soul of our team."

"Our freshmen did a great job today. I do not think that they played like freshmen. They rose to the occasion this week. I thought we played a really great game today. We were not perfect, but I am  very pleased. Going down early in the manner that we did presented an interesting situation. Whether it was intentional or not, King's became defensive after that, and we were able to work our way into the game. When Nik tied the game up, I had confidence that we would find another goal and win. I think our guys had that same confidence". 

"This is the most proud I have ever been of a team. I think winning the conference tournament and getting a bid to the NCAA tournament this year is on par with our season that we had last year."

Up Next:
The Eagles and the rest of the NCAA Field will learn more on Monday. Check twitter and this website for more information about selection information.