ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Lacrosse will host Lebanon Valley College in the opening round of the MAC Commonwealth Men's Lacrosse Tournament. The third seeded Eagles got six goals from
Nicholas Fanelli to rally to a 13-9 win at LVC in the first meeting of the year between the two sides.
The Eagles will look to shoot better the second time through. Junior goalie Nick Serrano kept the Dutchmen in the game with a 22-save effort. Only five goalies in the country have stopped more balls than Serrano. He has 187 stops in 12 games. For the Dutchmen to be successful, he has to be good. They have offensive weapons, but they are winning only slightly better than one-in-four faceoffs, and their defense does not have multiple take-away players.
That said, LVC did not trail in the first meeting between the two sides until the final seconds before halftime.
Nicholas Fanelli scored twice in the final 30 seconds to put the Eagles up 6-5.
The Eagles (8-4) feature the top goalscorer and top provider in the MAC Commonwealth.
Nicholas Fanelli averages 4.82 points and 3.36 goals per game to lead the league in both categories.
Avery Porter aveages a league-best 2.18 helpers per game. In his typical balanced way,
Kyle Fanelli is 11th in the league in both goals and assists per game. Boh the and
Connor Killion have 26 goals. Killion missed one game and is ninth in goals per game.
The trademark of this Eastern team has been its defense. Head Coach
Kevin Wallace would say that starts with, but is not limited to the poles. The Eastern defense has created chances all year with an aggressive ride. Teams fail 3-in-10 clears against the Eastern ride. Once in the offensive end, there are not many bargains.
Cole Millard,
Chris Durning,
Ian Kalb, and
Kyran Baker give the Eagles an experienced group that can dictate offense and take the ball away. Durning is over 100 ground balls for the third time in his career and he is taking away nearly three turnovers a game. Millard joins Durning with over 100 career-caused turnovers.
Rookie goalie
Ethan Myers has had several outstanding games and is stopping nearly 56 percent of the shots he sees.
Anthony Firmani and
Patrick McClain have been a successful duo at the faceoff X for the Eagles. They won 20-of-26 in the first meeting between the two squads.
Jake Bollinger leads the LVC attack with 18 goals and 16 assists. Michael Fisher has 13 goals and 15 assists, Aex Kiviniemi has 18 goals, and Carson Frey has 17 goals.
Eastern has won all three meetings between the two programs.
Second-seeded York will host Albright and fourth-seeded Widener hosts Hood. Stevenson went unbeaten in the league and will have a first-round bye.
Per campus policy, Eastern athletic events are open to Eastern students and staff and a limited number of guests of Eastern players. The only off-campus guests allowed at the game are people on the approved pass list.
The links for the live stream and live stats are on the schedule page.
