ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Soccer (5-8-3, 2-3-2) came into today's contest against the York College Spartans needing the full three points to keep reasonable post-season hopes alive. On a day where the squad honored its 12 seniors, the first 78 minutes went nearly exactly as planned. After a scoreless first half, the Eagles found a pair of goals and appeared to be headed toward a win. The visiting Spartans, however, had other plans. York (7-5-3, 2-3-1)scored twice in the final 12 minutes to salvage a tie and throw the race for the final MAC Commonwealth tournament spot into deeper levels of uncertainty.
The two teams combined for nine total shots in a cautious first half. First-year goalkeeper
Ty Bleiler made a spectacular reaction save on a headed ball in the 19th minute, but beyond that, neither team threatened to dent the scoresheet.
The Eagles kept their defense solid through the opening moments of the second half and finally found the chance they needed out of a half-chance at the hour mark. On a hopeful ball over the top,
Derek Buhrman ran between a pair of York defenders who both seemed to have position. The powerful senior earned inside space with his first touch and was pulled down at the edge of the box. Buhrman's free kick squirted through the wall.
Nik Kokolios poked the loose ball home for the lead.
Five minutes later, Buhrman again created a chance with a big switching ball.
Ryan Jammes settled the ball ont he right flank and attacked infield. The junior winger made one quick move and ripped a left-footed shot into the corner for what seemed to be sure to be the win.
The Spartans had other ideas. Over the next several minutes, the York bench added attacking players and pulled defensive players off. They finally broke through on a brilliant entry pass out of the midfield from Luke Nall. Noah Roche took the pass on the run and hit a shot at Bleiler. Eastern's goalkeeper made the first save, but could not hold the rebound. Roche followed his shot and closed the gap to a goal.
Three minutes later, Nall found space in front of the Eastern back row again. He played a pass across the top of the box to Jack Mitzelfelt for a quick shot. Mitzelfelt's attempt had Bleiler going one way and found the back of the net on the other side when it deflected off an Eastern defender.
With both teams feeling a tie would not be helpful, the final nine minutes had chances both ways. Neither team, however, was able to draw ahead.
Eastern's post-season chances are cloudy, but still possible. With a potential maximum point total of 11, there are three teams in the MAC Commonwealth that the Eagles cannot catch. A fourth team, Alvernia, sits at 11 points. The Golden Wolves play Stevenson and Widener in their final two matches and need just a single point from those two matches (barring an unlikely LVC win against Messiah on Tuesday). If Alvernia takes a point, then the best finish the Eagles can hope for is a fifth-place finish.
If the Eagles reach their maximum point total of 11 with a win over Albright on Tuesday, and LVC loses to Messiah on Tuesday, then the Eagles would earn that fifth spot with an LVC win over York when they meet next Saturday. Eastern beat LVC 4-1 earlier in the year. In the event of a three-way tie between Eastern, LVC, and Alvernia, Eastern would wind up as the fourth seed. If Eastern and York wind up tied for the fifth spot, which would happen if Alvernia earns a point somewhere and York beats Hood and ties LVC, the tie-breaker will be determined by record against the league from the top down, which means if Alvernia were to finish ahead of Stevenson, Eastern would be in and if Stevenson finishes ahead of Alvernia, then York would have the spot.
Click here to view MAC Commonwealth Men's Soccer Standings
The Eagles will host Albright at 3:00 pm.
