ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Senior
Zach Sievert scored his ninth goal of the season in the fourth minute to give Eastern Men's Soccer an early advantage on Saturday afternoon, but a pair of goals in the 15th and 20th minutes by the visiting Blazers proved to be the difference as the Eagles fell 2-1 on Senior Day. With its loss and York's win over Stevenson, the Eagles have fallen to sixth in the MAC Commonwealth Table with two matches left to play.
The Eagles came onto to the pitch with fire and energy, and it quickly resulted in a goal. In the fourth minute, senior
Ethan Pfau stole the ball at midfield and made a run down the right sideline. After losing the ball momentarily and regathering, the Exton native made a sweet pass through the legs of a Hood defender to the right foot of Sievert, and the Jacksonville, Fla. native finished the play with a low shot to the left past Hood goalkeeper Adam Labows to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. His nine goals are a new season-high, surpassing the eight he scored last season.
The lead did not last long. In the 15th minute, after a few more quality chances from Pfau and João Tarabal, Hood's Cristian Topovich laid a perfect ball to a streaking Jonathan Fuentes, who pushed the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to tie the match at 1.
Five minutes later, in the 20th minute, Hood took the lead for good, as Aidan Wright ripped a shot from the top of the box and found twine to put the Blazers ahead 2-1. The Blazers went on to control the rest of the first half, recording five more shots, four of which were saved by Eastern keeper
Michael Arcuri.
The two teams combined for 17 shots in the final 45 minutes of action, but the Eagles could not find the equalizer. Senior
Marcus Pringle had a pair of strong chances early, but both shots were saved by Labows. Sievert and fellow senior
Cullen Visscher had chances in the 71st and 75th minutes, but could not solve Labows. Eastern had one final corner kick with 45 seconds left, but the Blazers held on to secure a big MAC Commonwealth victory.
Eastern (7-4-4, 2-3-1) will play its final two regular season games on the road next week. They travel down the Blue Route to Chester on Tuesday for a 7:00 pm matchup with Widener.
