FREDERICKSBURG, Va.– Eastern University Men's Lacrosse rallied early to claim a 7-6 halftime lead, but the host University of Mary Washington Eagles controlled second-half possession  and pulled away to a 14-8 win. Nicholas Fanelli and Christopher Fanelli each scored three times, but the Eastern offense could only muster two second half tallies in the loss. 

The host UMW Eagles led 4-1 after one quarter and 5-2 five minutes into the second. Eastern answered with its best stretch to close out the first half with four-straight goals to end the half. The Eagles won 8-of-13 first-half faceoffs. 

Nicholas Fanelli scored the first goal of the run, his third of the day, to start the run with 9:29 on the clock. Neither team scored for six minutes until Eastern capitalized on a man-up chance with a Christopher Fanelli goal from Nick Litzenberger. Gavin Stark ran through a pair of defenders to tie the game with two and a half minute left in the half. 

With the score tied, Ethan Myers made a save and the Eagles cleared the ball and got a timeout with 17 seconds left. Stark ran behind the goal and faked a flip to Nicholas Fanelli before feeding Christopher on the crease for Eastern's first and only lead of the game. 

The Eagles won the opning faceoff of the second half, but the hosts got a save and scored the first three goals after half. Litzenberger pulled Eastern to within a goal at 8-7, but the hosts won the next two faceoffs and tacked on two more goals to lead 10-7 after three quarters. 

Christopher Fanelli scored the final goal with six minutes left in the game. 

Rthan Myers made 14 stops and Sean Dendall had three caused turnovers. 

The Eagles return to action at Ursinus on March 6.