ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Facing a two-goal deficit after the first 20 minutes of play, the Eagles battled back to secure a 2-2 tie with Eagle Road rival Cabrini. Lindsay Kline scored her second penalty kick goal in as many games, before Sydney Koncsol recorded the game-tying tally in the 88th minute.
"That was a hard-fought, exciting game, and it seemed like either side could have grabbed the winning goal," Eastern Head Coach AJ Stueck said. "I'm proud of the determination and mentality of the team for battling back from down 2-0. To tie it up with 2 minutes left showed true winning spirit."
The visiting Cavaliers controlled play throughout of the first half, keeping the ball on the Eagles' side of the pitch and not allowing the hosts to generate much offensively. Of Cabrini's 15 shots, nine of them came in the first half.
Cabrini scored both of its goals eight minutes apart. The first came off a throw-in that landed right in front of the goal mouth, while the second came off a well-placed corner kick. However, just 40 seconds later, Kline, after being fouled in the penalty area, cut the Eastern deficit in half with a shot that caught the upper left corner of the net.
In the early stages of the second half, the Cavaliers looked to increase their advantage, but the Eagles' defense, and first year goalkeeper Emily Honig, were up to the task. For the match, Honig collected seven saves on nine shots, while senior Lydia Moody blocked a pair of Cabrini chances to keep the match within striking distance.
The Eagles began to press their attack in the final 10 minutes of regulation, and with two minutes to go, their resilience paid off. Kline placed a perfect through ball to Gabi Hollinger on the right side of the field, and Hollinger then threaded a flawless pass to a streaking Koncsol. The sophomore made no mistake, finding twine in the upper right corner to tie the contest at 2-2.
"It was a real team effort today from everyone, with important minutes and energy coming from the bench," Stueck said. "Sydney Koncsol and Lauryn Laning both really stepped up when called upon and did their job. Lindsay Kline also continues to put in consistent performances and rises to the occasion in big moments."
The Eagles outshot the Cavaliers 4-2 in the two overtime periods but were unable to find a game-winner. Their best chance came in the first overtime on a stellar two-on-one sequence between Hollinger and Madelyn Mullen, but the shot went just wide.
Eastern will hit the road this weekend, traveling to Scranton to take on Marywood. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
"We will focus on playing two good halves and coming out of the gates ready to go," Stueck said. "We have made things difficult on ourselves by behind at the half of all three games thus far. In our pursuit of improvement, we need to focus on playing every minute at a competitive level."
