VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.– Eastern University Men's Lacrosse dominated faceoffs off early and rolled to a 16-8 win at Virginia Wesleyan University. The Eagles scored seven times in the second quarter and a five times in the third to hand the Marlins (3-1) their first loss of the season. Connor Killion led 11 Eastern goal scorers with four goals. Nicholas Fanelli had three goals and two assists.

How It Happened:
The Eagles (2-2) won all four first-quarter faceoffs, but only led 2-1 after fifteen minutes. Killion put the Eagles up with a man-up chance two minutes in, but the Marlins equalized four minutes later. David Thomas drove down the left alley to put the Eagles up with four minutes to play and start a 7-to-0 run.

The Eagles started the second quarter up a man with the ball. Kyle Mulrane scored from Kyle Fanelli on the man-up chance. Eight seconds later, the Eagles took advantage of a clean faceoff win from Brian Casey for a 4-1 lead. After Casey drew the defense, Killion buried the pass from Nicholas Fanelli. Casey won the first seven faceoffs of the game.

The Fanelli brothers took advantage of another man-up chance for a 5-1 lead with 11:30 to pay in the half. Nicholas set up Kyle for the goal. Nicholas scored two minutes later after Kyran Baker ran a clear into the offensive end. Baker picked up the assist with a good pass to the crease.

The lead grew to 8-1 on a pair of goals in a 14-second span. Killion scored the first. Ethan Joseph his first of the season on a pass from Casey. The Marlins scored a pair of goals to cut the Eastern lead to 8-3, but Reilly Seal delivered with a tight angle shot from the right side for a 9-3 halftime edge. Eastern won 10-of-13 faceoffs in the first half.

Casey would then win all six draws in a 5-0 third quarter. The senior specialist went straight to goal on his first win and put the Eagles up 10-3. Killion then scored from Colin Piper before Nicholas Fanelli scored twice more in the third. Connor Bachman scored between the two Fanelli tallies.

Adam Booz and Liam O'Connor scored in the fourth quarter for the Eagles.

Adam Grant made 13 saves and allowed four goals in his 49 minutes of work. Connor Evans and Kyle Dampman finished the game.

Coach Wallace Says:
"The game was about faceoffs today. Brian did a great job at X and we were able to capitalize on the possessions. We moved the ball well, took advantage of extra-man chances and favorable match-ups, and hit our spots shooting. Nicholas Fanelli had a really good day on attack."

"Our defense made a statement through the middle part of the game. They were able to dictate the play and start some transition opportunities. We have a big test coming up Wednesday."

Up Next:
The Eagles are at Christopher Newport on Wednesday. The Captains (3-1) were receiving votes in last weeks USILA National poll. They fell at Ursinus yesterday.