RADNOR, Pa. – Make no mistake. It is a rivalry. Even though Eastern University Men's Soccer has won the last eight meetings against Eagle Road rival Cabrini, the games always seem to come down to the wire. Tonight's match-up at Cabrini was no different. The visiting Eagles bounced back from a pair of one-goal deficits to a earn a 3-2 win in front of a packed house at Edith Robb Dixon Field. Eastern (6-0) scored twice in a three-minute stretch int he second half to earn the win.
The Cavaliers opened the scoring int he fourth minute on a strong move up the right side. With attackers flooding the scoring zone, the Cabrini winger played the ball behind the Eastern defense. A lunging attempt at a clear resulted in an own goal. The Eagles scored in a similar fashion against William Patterson last weekend.
Though the Cavaliers held the lead, play remained level through the next 35 minutes. Eastern finally found an equalizer in the 43rd minute.
Drew Johnson carried a ball up the left side and delivered a serve into the scoring area. The weight of the serve led to a missed clearance and
Gabriel Velazquez jumped on his chance. The junior midfielder collected the ball at the edge of the box and ripped a right footed blast into the left side of the net.
Cabrini grabbed a second lead in the 56th minute on a double rebound after a long throw in. The Eagles blocked a shot and then
Diesel Fiore parried away the rebound effort, but Cabrini forward Nick LoBiondo was in the right spot to bury a shot from in close and send the crowd in blue into a frenzy.
That lead, however, was short-lived.
After a period of Cabrini Pressure,
Nik Kokolios picked up a ball on the left side in the 66th minute. He played a switching ball to
Ryan Jammes 25 yards out. Jammes took the ball across his body and smashed a right-footed rocket into the upper right corner. It is the first career goal for the rookie from Virginia.
In the 68th minute, the Eagles found their first lead of the game.
Emmanuel Hewitt pressured a Cabrini defender and jarred a ball free in the attacking third.
Derek Buhrman picked up the loose ball and played a pass to his right.
Jake Morales took a touch and bent a skipping shot into the lower left corner for the lead.
The Eastern defense fought off serve after serve in the final 12 minutes to preserve the lead. The Cavaliers had chances on long throws, free kicks and corner kicks, but the Eagles constantly won crosses and blocked shooting attempts. When they did not, Fiore was int he right spot. The rookie backstop from Las Vegas made five of his seven saves in the second half.
"That was resiliency at it's finest!" Head Coach
Kevin Brenner said after the match. "Im so proud of this group and their willingness to keep battling. With some second half adjustments I thought we limited Cabrini's attacking presents other than long throws and set pieces. I'd like to thank the fans for an incredible atmosphere and traveling across good old Eagle Road! We hope to see more of this kind of support at our next home game on Saturday."
The Eagles are at Swarthmore College on Wednesday evening. The Garnet reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament in 2019.
