ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Soccer has played league matches against Alvernia dating back to the early 1990's. Today's contest on Olson Field was the first meeting between the two programs as members of the MAC Commonwealth. The visiting Golden Wolves (8-2, 2-0) scored a goal in the 67th minute and added a late penalty kick to earn a 2-0 win in an early-season battle of teams that ran through their non-league schedules.
The Eagles (7-2-2,1-1) had numerous restart chances early in the second half, but it was the Golden Wolves that struck first. After an Eastern player blocked a shot in the box, Alvernia forward Ryan Cogill won the battle for a loose ball and pounded a right-footed shot from a tight angle into the underside of the crossbar and into the goal.
While the game lacked consistent rhythm and pace in the first half, there were extended periods where both teams built attacks.
After the goal, those moments became increasingly rare. The Golden Wolves entered today's game having allowed just seven goals in nine matches. Over the final twenty minutes, the three Alvernia center backs won aerial battles and launched counter-attacks with driven balls that often resulted in restarts. As every stoppage took time off the clock, the Eagles pressed more and more numbers into the attack, and it seemed that an equalizer would have to come from a restart. The two teams combined for 23 second-half fouls.
A good chance from outside the top of the box in the 70th minute resulted in a shot, but
Emmanuel Hewitt's effort took a deflection on the way in and was scooped easily.
Jake Morales had a shot from a similar spot in the 83rd minute, but his right footed blast curled just wide of the left upright.
In the waning moments, the Golden Wolves went to the corner flags to kill time, Ryan Kuster split a double team in the corner and earned a penalty with a hard and unexpected run at goal. He converted the penalty with a blast to the upper left corner.
"Credit to Alvernia," Head Coach
Kevin Brenner said after the match. "They won the battles they needed to win and found a goal to go up. They are going to be hard to beat when they score first."
The Eagles host Stevenson for a Homecoming game on Saturday at 3:00 pm.
