YORK, Pa.— Coming into tonight's MAC Commonwealth Semifinal contest at top-seeded York, the undermanned Eastern University Eagles knew that to pull off an upset, they would need to keep things close early and would probably need the No. 6 ranked Spartans to be less than their best. The host Spartans were attentive to the task and dominated faceoffs early on the way to a 26-12 win. Franki Fanelli scored three times and
Brennan Kaut and
Andrew Collins each had two goals and two assists in the loss.
When the Eagles (5-12) scored the first goal of the game 28 seconds in, the Spartans paid attention. While Fanelli's first of the day might have been a hopeful sign for the Eagles. It most likely served to drive home the point the York coaches had been making all week. York's only post-season loss in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament came to the fourth-seeded Eagles in a semifinal.
The Spartans (17-1) paid attention and dominated possession and scored the next nine goals to lead 9-1 at the quarter break. Though York's edge in first-quarter shots was only 15-7, the gap in shot's on goal (12-1) was the difference.
Jack Bradley scored his second of the year on a transition goal early in the second, but the Spartans scored the next three to stretch the lead to 12-2. Though Kaut and Collins each scored in the middle of the second, the game was already being played at a pace that Eastern's undermanned offensive unit could not match.
York led 16-4 at halftime and scored the first five goals of the second half to put a stranglehold on the game.
Brett Gougler and Kaut scored in the third, but the Spartans had stretched the lead to 23-7 after three quarters.
After the result was no longer in question, the Eagles outscored York 6-3 in the fourth.
York won 28-of-42 faceoffs.
Brett Williamson scored a goal and
Gavin Stark closed out his career with a goal and an assist.
York will host Stevenson in the MAC Commonwealth Championship game on Saturday.
