OWINGS MILLS, Md. - In the conference opener for both teams, Eastern Women's Soccer played Stevenson to a 1-1 draw at Mustang Stadium to begin MAC Commonwealth play on Saturday evening.
Sarah Wilk opened the scoring with her first collegiate goal early in the second half, but a late equalizer by the Mustangs with just over five minutes to play handed the Eagles their fourth draw of the 2022 season.
The first half was mostly a midfield battle as both teams combined for just six shots in the opening 45 minutes. The Mustangs outshot the Eagles 4-2, with all four of their shots coming on goal, but Moskey was up to the task with four saves.
Her best stop came with eight minutes left in the first half. The Mustangs had a high quality restart opportunity about 25 yards from the goal, but the first-year goalkeeper from Kennett Square punched the shot high and wide to keep the contest scoreless.
Nine minutes into the second half, the Eagles broke the scoreless tie off a corner kick. Leading into the restart opportunity, strong ball movement between
Madelyn Mullen,
Lindsay Kline, and
Nicole Eveland led to a high quality chance right in front of the net. Eveland's subsequent shot was blocked, but went out of play for an Eastern corner. Kline's restart found Wilk on the left side of the net, and the sophomore forward fired it off the crossbar and in to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute. For Wilk, it was her first goal in an Eastern uniform.
The Mustangs turned up the pressure throughout the rest of the second half and created several strong scoring chances in the final 15 minutes of the match. With 5:29 remaining, Stevenson's Michelle Mesquita scored on a 30-yard free kick just under the crossbar to knot the contest up at one. The Eagles had a pair of corners in the waning minutes of the match, but were unable to find a game winner.
"I believe we were the better side tonight, and happy for Sarah to tally a goal," Eastern Head Coach
Jess Shanahan said. "But we need to find ways to put away two or three goals to close and get the results in those games -- that's the goal and message moving forward. Every conference game is tough, and one goal is not enough."
Stevenson finished with an 11-5 edge in shots, and an 8-3 edge in shots on target. Kline led the Eagles with a pair of shots, while Moskey finished the match with seven saves.
The Eagles will be back in action on Tuesday night against Widener, before returning home for a Homecoming showdown with Hood next Saturday afternoon.
