ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Emmanuel Hewitt curled in a free kick in the 80th minute for a 3-2 lead, and Eastern University Men's Soccer held on to claim an important MAC Commonwealth win over the visiting Widener University Pride. The Eagles (9-5-2, 3-4) took a 2-0 lead to halftime but needed the free kick goal after the Pride scored twice in the opening 25 minutes of the second half. The Eagles honored seniors Alessandro Truppi and Alex McGlynn before the match.

The Eagles had chances early, but the Pride (7-5-2, 2-5) had the best early chance with a penalty kick, but first-year goalkeeper Diesel Fiore read the kick perfectly and parried it wide to keep the game level. The Eagles pressed the action and had several great chances go unfinished before Nik Kokolios finally broke the tie with his third goal of the year off a pass from Tommaso Garavaglia in the 29th minute. 

Up a goal, the Eastern attack found inspiration and created great chances in dangerous areas. Daniel Panto beat the Widener goalkeeper with a shot from seven yards out, but a Pride defender stood his ground on the goal line and kept the Eastern lead at 1-0. Marino Iandolo doubled the lead with an individual effort off the left side in the 42nd minute. He stepped away from a challenge and worked the ball back onto his inside leg. His right-footed shot found the upper right corner of the goal. 

The Eastern defense has been stingy at home, but the Eagles also had not won a match by more than a goal since the second week of the season. With the game standing as an elimination match for both sides, the Pride threw everything forward in the second half. They cut the Eastern lead in half in the 58th minute and tied the match on their third corner kick of the half in the 70th. 

Derek Buhrman earned a free kick just outside the box early in the 80th minute. The spot for the kick was nearly identical to the spot of the foul in Eastern's overtime win over Farmingdale State early in the year. While Hewitt bent that shot into the upper left and today's shot over the wall and to the lower right, the result is the same. All three of Hewitt's goals this year have come late in games and stood as game-winners.

"It was tale of two halves," Head Coach Kevin Brenner said after the match. "I thought we were excellent in the first half and did well to create chances. We got two excellent goals from Koko and Marino and had several chances at a third. We knew Widener would throw the proverbial kitchen sink at us in the second half. We spoke about mindset at half. We wanted to continue to do the things that made us successful in the first half. It was a great learning moment for our young squad. I think we deserved to win the game, and that came by way of another game spectacular winner from Emmanuel Hewitt."

With the win, the Eagles stay alive in the MAC Commonwealth post-season chase. They will be interested observers of the match between York and Stevenson this evening. If Stevenson wins or draws, the Eagles can make the tournament with a win at Albright on Saturday and a win or a tie by Widener over York on Saturday.