SWARTHMORE, Pa. — Another slow start proved to be too much for Eastern University Men's Soccer to overcome as the Eagles dropped a 7-2 non-league decision at Swarthmore College.
Evan Cope and
Morris Marshall each scored in the loss.
The Eagles, who gave up an early goal in Saturday's loss at Hood College, actually started the game on the front foot.
Zach Sievert set up Cope on an open run up the right side.
Mauro Lence got a foot to the short cross but could not find the target.
That optimistic posture did not last long. The Garnet found the space between the lines and an opportunity to attack on the left side. A good feed into the box turned into a 1-0 lead. The shot from close range found the corner with only 92 seconds elapsed. Swarthmore (4-2-4) doubled the lead two minutes later and added two more goals before the match was 20 minutes old.
Though the Garnet had just an 8-5 edge in first-half shots, the quality of their chances more than made up for the lack of volume. Eastern had all five first-half corner kicks.
The Eagles (3-7-1) found some life when Cope scored on a good feed from Matt Capuano in the 51st minute. Cope made a strong run off the right sid end beat the charging goalkeeper to the long feed before guiding it across the goal line for his 33rd career goal.
Eastern's joy, however, was short-lived. Within four minutes of Cope's tally, the hosts got back-to-back goals from Kaden Cho to squash any comeback thoughts. The Garnet added another tally in the 68th minute.
Marshall found the net for the first time in his career on a feed from Lence. Under different circumstances, the goal would have created a much bigger stir. The play started on the right side where Sievert pushed a ball wide and Lence spun and knocked it through an opponent's legs before whipping a cross to the back post. Marshall timed his run perfectly and smashed a header into the lower corner.
Eastern's attacking commitment resulted in 14 second-half shots.
The Eagles return home for a homecoming match against the Messiah University Falcons (3-6-2, 0-0-1) on Friday at 4:00 pm.
