DOYLESTOWN, Pa.– One goal turned out to be enough as Eastern University Field Hockey improved to 3-1 on the season with a hard-fought 1-0 road win over the Delaware Valley University Aggies (2-2) . Kara Frantz scored from the top of the circle in the tenth minute and Angelina Catania recorded nine saves to earn the win.

The goal came on Eastern's only penalty corner of the opening frame. Abby Hakes created the chance with a quick restart after a foul in the midfield. She earned the circle on the right side and served a pass back to the middle. Morgan Unruh beat her mark to the ball and took a foul to earn the free chance. Hakes played the insert. Frantz had a good first touch just outside the circle and a better second one inside. Her low blast flew through traffic and slammed into the backboard inside the lower left corner.

The Eagles held a 2-1 advantage in first-quarter shots.

Though Eastern had a 6-1 edge in second-quarter penalty corners, the Eastern defense had plenty of work to do. Catania made six stops as the Aggies fired eight total shots in the frame.

With just the one goal lead, the Eagles kept the game in front of them in the third. The Aggies did not have a shot or a penalty corner in the third. Eastern had four penalty corners, but they were not able ot put any of their four shots on frame.

While the third quarter felt calm, the fourth quarter had chaos.

Both teams had big chances.

Catania came up with a save seconds into the fourth. After the Eagles saw three early corners and several golden opportunities go unfinished, Eastern's sophomore goalie came up with a huge triple-save sequence with eight minutes left to keep the Eagles in the lead.

Kacie Agnew added a clearance out of the circle on the play, but a good play by an Aggie defender pushed the ball back into danger and the Eastern defense still to defend a corner.

Play went to the other end where Jenna Reider beat the Delaware Valley goalie with a shot, but a defender on the line cleared the attempt from danger. After another penalty corner,  CJ Summa had a shot to the top corner ricochet out.

Though the Eastern midfield kept the game in the offensive zone for most of the rest of the half, Braeley DiGregorio still needed to make a play in the circle to disrupt a final shot with less than three minutes left. The Eagles held the ball nearly to the end, but the Aggies were pushing forward as time expired. Julia Potter made a steady play at the edge of the circle to end the game. 

Eastern had a 13-3 edge in penalty corners in the match. The Eagles are back in action at Gwynedd Mercy University on Saturday afternoon.