ST.  DAVIDS, Pa.— Eastern University Men's Lacrosse scored the first nine goals of the game and held on for a 16-8 MAC Commonwealth win over the visiting Widener University Pride. The Eagles (8-8, 4-2) led 6-0 after one quarter and added three more goals in the first three minutes of the second quarter to take a huge step toward qualifying for the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament. Brett Gougler led the Eagles with four goals and two assists and Brett Williamson scored four times. 

As they did at Albright, the Eagles owned much of the possession early. Gougler opened the scoring on a pass from Gavin Stark. Two and a half minutes later, Christopher Fanelli scored from his brother after the Eastern ride gave the home team an extra possession. The Eagles won five of seven first-quarter face-offs and forced the Pride into three turnovers while clearing.

Eighty seconds later, Nick Lizenberger scored from Gougler for a 3-0 lead. Jake Vitone, Brett Williamson and Christoher Fanelli each tacked on solo tallies before the quarter was halfway over. That blitz forced the Pride into a goalie change. That change seemed to help the guests at the defensive end, but Widener could not solve the Eastern defense. Zachary Klym made three of his 11 saves in the first quarter and Brady Palmer, Dominic Marangoni, Zach Puckett, and Frankie Fanelli each caused turnovers in the opening quarter.  

The Eagles started the second up a man. Litzenberger put away a Christopher Fanelli pass for his 10th extra-man tally of the year. Litzenberger joins Christopher Fanelli as one of only a few players in Divison III with 10 or more extra-man goals. Fanelli has 12. Even with the energy of a local rivalry game, the Eagles did not get another man-up chance in the game. 

Williamson and Gougler each scored before the quarter was three minutes old. After the teams traded goals, the Pride scored four-straight to pull within five goals at 10-5. Brennan Kaut set up Brett Williamson for a run-stopping goal to end the half. 

The Eagles held a 25-11 edge in first-half shots and won 12-of-17 faceoffs. Ben Souder finished the day 14-of-18 at the dot. The sophomore specialist won the final draw after a prolonged clamp that lasted over a minute.  He finished with five ground balls. 

"We wanted to come out quickly," Head Coach Colin Piper said after the game. "We felt if we could be aggressive on the ride and win the ground ball battle we could get off to a good start. I think we did both."

The Eagles won each of the final two quarters to pull away. With active sticks and aggressive checks, the Eastern defense kept the Pride on the perimeter. Puckett finished with four caused turnovers adn five ground balls, and Sean Dendall and Brady Palmer each forced three turnovers. Nicholas Ciampaglio scored early in the fourth after a long outlet from Klym. Ciampaglio's strike was the first by an Eastern pole this season. 

Frankie Fanelli scored twice in the third quarter and Gougler, a Delaware County native, added two more goals in the fourth for the final score. 

The Eagles can secure the third spot in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament with a home win over Hood on Saturday. The Blazers, who trail York by 11 in the second half, will need to beat Eastern to make the tournament. The Eagles could miss the tournament with a loss to Hood and an upset win by Messiah or Widener against York or Stevenson.