St. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Lacrosse scored six of the final seven goals of the game to erase a 6-5 deficit and earn an 11-7 win over the fourth-seeded Wilkes University Colonels int he first round of the MAC Freedom Tournament. Eight different Eastern players scored goals in the win.

How It Happened:
The visiting Colonels scored five of the final six goals in the in the first half to hold a 5-4 lead at halftime. The Colonels still held the one-goal edge when they answered a Trent Ashton goal with a transition goal only 19 seconds later.

The Eastern run started with a ground ball battle. Ashton fought to save a turnover in front of the Wilkes bench the sophomore attackman grabbed one ground ball, but before he could release  a pass, two poles converged on him and the ball was on the turf again. Again, Ashton chinned the ground ball and flipped it to Antonio Yeoman in the middle of the field. With numbers around Ashton, Yeoman had an odd-man situation going to goal. The first year midfielder drew a defender and then fed Jimmy Kurnik near the crease. With defenders closing, Kurnik tucked hoe his second of the year to tie the game.

While there was only one extra-man opportunity in the first half, the third period saw both teams down a man twice.

The Eagles made their second extra-man chance count. Sean Fechter found Colin Piper just above goal-line extended for a chance. Piper ripped a lefft-handed shot into the top corner for a 7-6 lead.

Zach Bauer won the ensuing faceoff and went straight to goal for his sixth of the year for an 8-6 lead. The Eagles had three chances to stretch the lead to three goals, but Ashoton hit the post and Wilkes goalie Carter Whittemore made a pair of good saves.

The Colonels had a chance just before the buzzer when John Wink got a shot from close range. Brett McDonald was equal to the task with one of his four second-half saves. McDonald finished with nine stops. Whittemore stopped 17.

That save proved to be big when the Eagles won the opening draw in the fourth. Chris Durning pulled a ground ball out of a mass of bodies in the center circle. Instead of going back to his goal to ensure possession, Durning saw space in front and took it. The junior defenseman ripped an overhand shot for his second goal of the season. He scored his first goal of the year in Eastern's 10-9 over time win at Wilkes. Today, he finished witha  game-high eight ground balls.

Sean Fechter scored his second of the day with five minutes to play on a one-handed effort from the left alley.

Wink answered that goal with his 58th goal of the season. One of seven Wilkes players who played against Eastern in the first year of the Wilkes program in 2016, Wink finishes his career with 139 goals. The Eagles grabbed that goal back on an Antonio Yeoman goal with the possession clock running down and the Colonels pressing out in the final two minutes of the game.

Eastern scored the first three goals of the game on tallies from Fechter, Ashton, and Kyle Fanelli. 

Coach Wallace Says:
"We were able to control the tempo of the game. Our defense did a great job in the second half limiting their chances and getting the ball back. There were a ton of big plays in the game. Brett's save. Chris with the goal off the face-off. Alec Morshead coming into the game and winning faceoffs. We did not shoot particularly well, but we finished enough chances to win the game. We are looking forward to playing here again on Saturday."

Up Next;
The Eagles will host the DeSales University Bulldogs for the second Saturday in a row. Eastern handed the Bulldogs their only loss of the season this past Saturday. DeSales advanced to the Championship game with a 15-8 home win against Misericordia.

The Championship game will be on Olson Field for the first time since 2015. In 2016 and 2018 Eastern had to host the Championship away from Campus because of conflists with graduation. With graduation a week later, Olson Field is available for the 1:00 pm game. As it was today, admission will be charged.