CHESTER, Pa. – Eastern University Women's Soccer scored a pair of first-half goals and held off a push from the hosts to grab a 2-1 win at Widener and claim a fifth-straight win in the league. Billinda Leisner had a goal and an assist to pace the Eastern attack.

The Eagles (12-5-3, 5-2) came into the afternoon locked into the third spot in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. The host Pride (6-11, 2-5) needed a win and a good deal of help from Alvernia and York to slip into the fourth spot. Hoping to carry the momentum of the last few weeks into the postseason, the Eagles picked up their 12th win with the effort. Winning five matches in the league is a big step forward for a program that did not win a league game and won only one total game in Head Coach Jess Shanahan's first season.

Leisner got the Eagle on the board with an early tally. After an Olivia Nicholson corner kick, Megan Burkholder hit a shot off a Widener defender. Leisner won a the race to the ball and smacked a right-footed blast off the inside of the post and in for her sixth goal of the year.

The Eagles doubled the lead in the 36th minute. After Paige Snell had her shot blocked, Leisner ran down another loose ball and bent in a serve from the right side. Emma Bennett arrived on time to poke home her third of the year.

The Eagles seemed to have things in hand but Widener rookie Isabella Losoda made things interesting with a solo effort in the 45th minute to shrink the Eastern edge to a single goal.

The two teams played much of the second half in the midfield and Faith Leake made four steady stops in goal to preserve the win. Ella Marrollo put one past the keeper in the 88th minute, but she had started her run before the pass was released and the official correctly raised a flag to disallow the goal. Leake's final save came on a bouncing  35-yard shot from a bad angle in the 89th minute.

"Widener is always a competitive hard-fought match for us in conference," Shanahan said. "It feels like a rivalry, and our team is typically very fired up to play against them. We are happy to finish with a positive result and good health and go into next week with some momentum at York."

The Eagles will have a few days to prepare for a York team that had won three-straight matches in decisive fashion before finishing the season with a 0-0 draw at home against Hood. The Blazers, who were eliminated today finished the year with an NCAA record eight 0-0 ties.

York beat Eastern 2-0 in the first meeting of the year between the two teams. The Eagles had a free kick late with a chance to tie before the Spartans scored on the counter in the 88th minute to seal the match. Messiah will host Stevenson in the other semifinal.