Eastern University Athletics

Eastern University Field Hockey got back in the win column with a decisive 3-0 win at Albright College. After spending a lot of time on defense in tough league losses to York and Messiah, the Eagles spent most of the match in possession near the Albright circle. CJ Summa, Karlee Howard, and Rihanna Ridgeway scored to lead the Eastern attack.

Despite a 10-0 edge in first-half penalty corners, the Eastern lead stood at 1-0 at halftime. CJ Summa converted a stroke in the 18th minute. Karlee Howard created the chance with a shot through traffic that wound up getting kicked from danger by a position player.  The Eagles held a 10-1edge in first half shots. Summa is 2-for-2 on strokes this season and 7-of-8 in her career. She has nine goals this year.

Just after halftime, Howard doubled the lead with a highlight-reel type goal. The senior forward collected the ball near the end-line at the edge of the circle. Her move into the circle beat three defenders. Her next move pushed the ball up-field through three more Lions to set up a reverse-stick smash for her ninth tally of the year and a 2-0 lead.

The Eagles continued to apply pressure at the Albright end and had five third-quarter penalty corners, but the Lion defense limited the Eagles to only five shots in the frame.

The Lions escaped their zone late in the fourth, forced an Angelina Catania save and earned a penalty corner with 4:13 on the clock. The Eagles defended well and found a little relief with the extra space behind the Albright defense. Summa nearly added to the edge with a high shot on a penalty corner, but her shot caromed off the crossbar. Ridgeway forced saves on back-to-back efforts from in close, and Delena Dunkleberger turned away a Summa effort before Ridgeway broke through with a shot from in close in the final minute. Howard picked up the assist on Ridgeway's fourth of the year.

Catania earned the shutout win for her seventh win of the year. Eastern finished the match with a 22-4 edge in shots and an 18-1 advantage in penalty corners. 

The Eagles are at Neumann University on Saturday. It will be the first league match between the two programs since 2007. Neumann earned a 2-1 win in the fixture last season. The Eagles had won the 16 previous matches dating back to 1997.