BRISTOL, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Soccer jumped to an early 2-0 lead but need a late penalty-kick goal from
Emmanuel Hewitt to earn a 3-2 win at Cairn University. The Eagles are off to their first 5-0 start since 2005. They will play at Eagle Road rival Cabrini University on Saturday at 6:00 pm.
Because of an early season cancelation, this afternoon's game turned out ot be the first road game of the year for Coach Brenner's young squad. In the early going, things were going well.
Evan Cope slipped behind the Highlander defense in the 16th minute to tally his team-best 4th goal of the year.
Jake Morales provided the service.
Marino Iandolo doubled the Eastern lead with a right-footed finish in the 40th minute. Iandolo found his opening after a great reception of a
Nik Kokolios pass on the right flank. He worked infield with a brilliant first touch and grooved home a finish for his first career tally.
Despite the two-goal edge, there were troubling signs for the Eagles. Coach Brenner noted that his team was not winning its fair share of balls in the air and that the Highlanders were getting too many restart chances.
The fouls proved to be a problem for the Eagles in the second half. Cairn (2-2-1) halved the lead off a free kick opportunity in the 61st minute. Josh Goodyear nodded home a long serve from Moses Beers. Beers took advantage of a closer free kick chance in the 72nd minute. He hooked a left-footed shot over an Eastern wall to tie the game.
Though the Eagles had more of the play, the hosts had the best chance of the closing moments. Eduardo Guttierez swept a Jesse Brittain shot off the goal line in the 79th minute to keept hte game tied at 2-2.
The game winner came after Hewitt beat his mark around the right edge. A lunging tackle by the Cairn defender came late and clipped Hewitt's eg to set up the game-winner with less than a minute to play. Hewitt's penalty was good enough to secure the win.
"We did not have our best day," Brenner said after the game. "We could have easily lost that game. We missed sevearl chances to put the game away early and were fortunate not to go down. We need to develop a mentality of that sets us up to win on the road."
The Eagles are at Cabrini on 6:00 pm on Saturday.
