ST. DAVIDS, Pa. — Eastern University Men's Soccer rallied from down two to finish the 2025 season with a 2-2 draw against Widener. Evan Cope scored both goals to finish his career with 38.

Coming into today, the Eagles (6-9-3, 2-3-2) knew that a win and a loss or tie by York, or a tie and a York loss would give the Eagles a spot in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. Knowing this, the Eagles  had to battle for a point to have a chance. York ultimately beat Stevenson, 3-1, to claim the fourth spot in the league. The Eagles played the final 37 minutes of the match down a player after Matthew Capuano was sent off for a hard challenge.

With Widener in a position where they could have claimed a tournament spot with a win, the game started with both teams pressing for goal.

The Pride struck first with a transition goal in the 17th minute. Sixteen minutes later, the visitors doubled their lead after a pair of deflections found their way to Will Cole at the edge of the box. The junior midfielder saw an open teammate in the box and found him. Gage Meckley buried his shot from close range.

The Eagles found life in the 37th minute. Capuano made a nice dribbling run off the left side and slotted a ball through the Widener back line. Cope took a touch to settle and slid a shot inside the left upright. Moments later, the Eagles just missed on another chance on a long throw in. With a calm touch off his heel, Mauro Lence flicked the initial serve toward the back post. Cope won the header in traffic and beat the keeper, but his ball glanced off the face of the post and out.

Capuano's challenge in the 53rd minute left the Eagles down a player and down a goal. Head Coach Luca Mellor changed to a back-three and pressed forward. The tactic paid dividends as Lence got a chance to dribble off the right side. The sophomore forward beat his mark and was taken down inside the area. Cope converted the penalty.

With his ten goals this year, Cope finishes fifth on Eastern's NCAA era scoring list.

When the game went level, the attacking did not end. Both teams pressed for the win. The Eastern coaching staff admitted to knowing that York had a three-goal advantage, but they continued to play for the win.

In the final minute, Haroon Husseini hammered a low shot from 18 yards out that tested the Widener goalkeeper and earned a corner kick. Steven Fajardo got a shot at goal in the last 20 seconds, but the game finished level.

"I am very proud of the way we competed to the end," Head Coach Luca Mellor said after the match. "It was all sprinting for the last 35 minutes, and they kept going. Throwing all those numbers forward, we put a lot of pressure on our backs and goalkeeper and they handled it very well."

With the draw the Eagles finish in the fifth spot in the MAC Commonwealth standings.