ST. DAVIDS, Pa. , Pa.– A five-goal burst in the second quarter pushed Eastern University Men's Lacrosse to a 7-3 lead over the visiting Ursinus College Bears, and the Eagles held on for a 10-7 win. Christopher Fannelli, Gavin Stark, Brett Gougler each scored twice. Nick Litzenberger scored twice and had two assists as the Eagles topped the Bears for the first time since 2018. Litzenberger's final goal was his 100th as an Eagle.

The Eagles split the first two faceoffs but led 2-0 after only five minutes of play. Christopher Fanelli scored from Jake Vitone for a 1-0 lead early. The Eastern man-down unit fended off an Ursinus extra-man chance and Gougler doubled the lead.

The Eagles (2-3) seemed to be in control of the game and had the ball with two and half minutes to play in the quarter, but an Ursinus interception gave the Bears a chance to close the gap. Zachary Klym stopped the first shot, but The Bears won the ground ball battle and scored on a second chance.

After another Eastern turnover, the Bears drew level with seven seconds to play in the period. The Eagles won four of five faceoffs in the first, but both teams had 11 ground balls. Klym made five first-quarter saves, but the Bears won the turnover battle 6-to-4.

Ursinus scored the opening goal of the second before the Eagles put together one of their best runs of the year.after fighting off another extra-man chance.

With seven minutes left in the half, Frankie Fanelli scored from the edge of the crease on a feed from his brother. A high hit from a defender drew a flag, and the Eagles would have two minutes of extra-man offense to add to their total. An early turnover gave the Bears a chance to run out much of the penalty, but Dominic Marangoni made a play to jar a ball loose. Litzenberger fed Christopher Fanelli to put the Eagles up 4-3 with very little time left on the penalty.

The Eastern lead stretched to 5-3 when Stark finished from Gougler after. Zach Puckett caused a turnover and Brady Palmer ran a clear. Frankie Fanelli came up with a ground ball to save possession after Benjamin Souder won a faceoff. Gougler converted the chance into a 6-3 lead with two minutes left.

Antoher Souder faceoff win gave the Eagles the ball back. Ryan WIlliamson came from behind the goal and dunked home a finish for a 7-3 edge with a minute to play, but the Eagles were unable to stretch their lead further.

"We were much better on ground balls in the second," Head Coach Colin Piper said after the game. " Zach [Klym] made some big stops, but the difference in that first half was us winning battles for the ball on the ground."

The Bears had better success on faceoffs in the third quarter, and they scored the first three goals of the period to close the gap to 7-6. The final two goals in that burst came only seconds apart after a faceoff win and pole goal by Ursinus LSM Matt Callahan.

Klym turned away an Ursinus shot for a chance to tie, and the Eagles turned a long possession into a Litzenberger goal for a two goal cushion that would last until the end of the third.

The Bears again closed the gap to a single goal on a Jared Laskin tally with 11 minutes to play. Ursinus then had three possessions to tie the game, but each time the Eastern defense stood its ground.

With just under seven minutes left, the game hit a major turning point with a second two-minute penalty on the Bears.

Stark scored from Litzenberger early in the extra-man sequence. The Bears had a chance to pull to within one or hold the ball, but Klym made a solid save to give the Eagles another chance to stretch the lead. Vitone drew the short-handed zone to the right side before feeding Litzenberger for a big step-down blast for his milestone tally and a big three-goal lead. 

Klym still had more work to do. He made a spectacular diving save late and finished with 15 total stops in the game. Souder won 11-of-18 faceoffs and had seven ground balls.

The Eastern win was the program's third against the Bears since 2006.

Eastern will host the University of Mary Washington Eagles next Saturday.