READING, Pa.– With a pair of first half goals at Alvernia, Eastern University Women's Soccer picked up their third-straight MAC Commonwealth win. The Eagles (10-5-3, 3-2) took another big step toward reaching the MAC Commonwealth tournament with their third-straight shutout win.
Paige Snell put Eagles up with her second game-winner in the last three matches. The junior midfielder head home a
Nicole Eveland corner kick in the 10th minute. It was the third match in a row, that Snell has made an impact on restarts. She volleyed home the lone goal off a long free kick in Eastern's 1-0 home win over Hood last Saturday, and she earned an assist with a header in the Eagles' 1-0 win at Stevenson on Tuesday.
The Eagles doubled the lead on
Mia Zucker's eighth goal of the year.
Billinda Leisner set up the goal with a looping pass out of midfield. Zucker won the race and slipped a right-footed shot past the goalkeeper for the important insurance tally. All eight of Zucker's goals have come away from home.
The Eagles held an 8-3 edge in first-half shots and a 16-9 edge in shots for the match.
Faith Leake made three stops to earn the shutout.
Leisner had a shot go off the crossbar in the 85th minute as the Eagles continued to press through to the finish. In the 87th minute,
Nicole Eveland put a ball past the Alvernia goalkeeper for what everyone on the field thought was a goal. The score was disallowed on a decision that came after the two teams had set up to restart the play from the center.
"We knew it would be a physical game," Head Coach
Jess Shanahan said after the match, "I am happy with their resilience to stay dialed in and capitalize on chances. Paige has been very good in the air all year."
The Eagles hold important tiebreakers over Hood, who beat Widener 4-0 this afternoon, and Stevenson, who lost 3-0 at Messiah. Those two teams will both play York and Alvernia. The Eagles host Albright on Wednesday before finishing the regular season at Widener on Saturday. Widener is 2-3 in league play and hosts Messiah on Wednesday.
