ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Lacrosse scored three times in the final three minutes, but it was not enough as the visiting DeSales University Bulldogs earned a 14-13 win and became the first second seed to claim a title in the eight-year history of MAC Freedom Men's Lacrosse. Mark Buannic scored four times in his final game for the Eagles.

How It Happened:
After the teams traded goals throughout the first half, DeSales scored twice in the opening minute of the second half to pick up the first three-goal lead of the game. Buannic answered the burst with his second of the day less than a minute later, but the Bulldogs stretched their lead to four with two more goals to go up 10-6.

The two teams traded goals to end the third period. The Bulldogs held a 14-6 edge in shots and outscored the Eagles 5-2 in the decisive third quarter.

Buannic and Colin Piper  scored early in the fourth, but the Bulldogs countered with a pair of goals just over a minute apart to restore a four-goal edge with six minutes to play. Antonio Yeoman scored his first of three goals with 4:26 left in the game, but the Bulldogs answered into an empty net as the Eagles were forced to chase with Brett McDonald out of the cage.

The Bulldogs committed their third faceoff violation of the half to give the Eagles a short man-up chance and Trent Ashton finished from Piper to cut the DeSales lead to three goals. When the Bulldogs gained possession on the next faceoff, it looked like the game might be over, but Chris Durning knifed a ball free to get the ball back for his team. The Eagles put three shots on goal, but DeSales goalie Matt Barry was equal to the task on each one. After the third save, Barry was out of the crease and Sean Fechter poked it free for another possession. Yeoman put away a pass from Buannic to cut the deficit to two goals with 1:16 on the clock.

Nate Hawkins grabbed the ground ball on the next faceoff and after an Eastern timeout, Piper found Yeoman for another goal to pull the Eagles to within a goal with 36 seconds to play. 

The Eagles won the faceoff, but Durning had only just gathered the ball into his cross when DeSales midfielder Frank Krug slapped the ball free to end the game.

Piper finished with two goals and four assists. Durning picked up a game-high 11 ground balls. Anthony Firmani won 19-of-23 faceoffs in his first Championship game.

Today was the final game for Buannic, Brett McDonald, Denver Comp, Cameron Miller, and Dan Acker.