RADNOR, Pa.– In the team's first ever game on its field on Radnor Street Road, Eastern University Men's Lacrosse survived a late surge from the visiting University of Mary Washington Eagles to earn a 13-11 home win. Christopher Fanelli had six goals and an assist to lead the Eastern attack and fellow senior Zachary Klym stopped 21 shots to earn the win.

Up 7-5 at halftime, the Eastern Eagles surrendered the first goal of the second half before putting together an impressive burst of team offense over the next 15 minutes game action. Gavin Stark set up Brett Williamson on the doorstep for a goal to give Eastern a two-goal edge with 11:26 left in the period. In his first game back from injury, Williamson scored twice and had an assist.

After a pair of saves from Klym, Frankie Fanelli put the Eagles up 9-6 off a feed from Brett Gougler, Frankie Fanelli scored twice in the game. Three minutes later, Gougler found Christopher Fanelli for a step-down effort for a 10-6 lead.

Mary Washington (2-3) drew one back with a transition goal late in the third. Klym had nine of his saves in the third quarter and Eastern won the period despite getting out-shot by a 14-to-8 margin.

The period ended with a flag down, and the Eastern man-up unit delivered with a catch-and-shoot effort on the doorstep from Christopher Fanelli on a pass from Stark. That assist was the 49th of Stark's career and lifted the junior midfielder to the 100 point mark for hist career. With his big day, Christopher Fanelli moves past Mark Buannic into third on Eastern's career goal-scoring list. The senior sniper has 132 career goals. He now sits behind only his brother Nicholas (193) and Eastern legend Grant Ferguson who scored 188 times. 

Ninety seconds later, the home team again converted another extra-man chance. Christopher Fanelli again finished, but this time it was Nick Litzenberger who played the role of provider as Fanelli caught the ball and delivered a turn-around effort from three yards out for a 12-7 lead.

The Eastern extra-man unit failed its first two extra-man chances before delivering on 3-of-4 in the fourth quarter.

The Eastern man-down unit also had some big moments. Mary Washington scored three times with an extra man, but the Eastern downers came up with a big stop down a pair of players at the end of a two minute penalty in the first quarter, and they processed a locked-in one minute situation with the game on the line in the fourth.

After Fanelli's second goal put Eastern up five, the Eastern man-down unit recorded a stop, but blocked shot in transition gave the visitors a chance to go the other way. A transition goal from a defensive midfielder sparked a four-goal Mary Washington burst that closed the gap to 12-11 with six and a half minutes to play.

On the ensuing faceoff, Nicholas Ciampaglio dug out a ground ball off the Ben Souter clamp and a Mary Washington foul gave Eastern a long possession with the flag on the ground. Once the penalty had been assigned, Christopher Fanelli powered home his sixth off a pass from Andrew Collins to restore the two-goal edge.

Klym made three more saves over the final five minutes to secure the win.

"I was very pleased with the way we ran our offense," Head Coach Collin Piper said after the game, "We were patient and worked well together. Having ten assists on 13 goals is a great percentage. I thought our defense played well against a good offensive unit and Zach came up with some special plays in goal. We look forward to a good weekend together before another good test next Saturday."

Eastern went up 3-0 in the first six minutes on goals from Williamson, Frankie Faneill, and Brett Gougler. Gougler's effort came on an impressive dodge that split a pair of Mary Washington defenders before a left-handed effort from the edge of the crease.

After an Eastern penalty, the guests scored an extra-man goal and closed to within a goal on a tally directly off a faceoff at the midpoint of the period.

Nick Litzenberger scored his 16th of the year before Christopher Fanelli got on the board with 91 seconds to play in the opening quarter. The visiting Eagles had an answer and scored with 14 seconds left in the first with a flag on the ground.

Twenty-seven seconds into the second quarter, Mary Washington pulled to within a goal on a second extra-man goal. Christopher Fanelli and Stark combined on the next two goals of the game to put Eastern up 7-4 before the visitors got the biggest opportunity of the game on a two-minute foul that came on a scrum right as the possession clock was about to expire.

The guests scored early in the long-advantage situation, but a save from Klym kept the Eagles up two until a second foul forced the Eastern man-down hit to make a play. The tight Eastern zone forced an errant pass, and Eastern escaped without further damage.

Benjamin Souder won 14-of-26 faceoffs for Eastern. Mary Washington had a 52-34 edge in shots.

The Eagles will travel south for spring break and will play Grove City College in Jacksonville, Fla. next Saturday.