COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - Eastern Men's Soccer dropped its first match of the 2026 season on Wednesday night, giving up a pair of first half goals in a 2-0 loss to the Ursinus College Bears. Forward Sean McFadden scored both goals off the bench, including one in the 41st minute off a perfect cross from Eliot Bowen, to give the Bears an advantage they would not relinquish.
Ursinus outshot Eastern 17-9, which included a 7-2 advantage in shots on target.
Zach Sievert and
Ethan Pfau generated a few quality chances in the first 14 minutes, but could not score. In the 28th minute, Ryan McNeill curved in a perfect pass that bounced off Jahsen Cole that settled perfectly in front of the box. McFadden then ripped a shot into the top right hand corner of the net to put the Bears ahead 1-0.
Just before halftime, Bowen, after some crafty footwork, hit a streaking McFadden on the left side of the net, and the sophomore forward found twine again to double the Ursinus lead.
The Eagles pressed their attack in the second half, finding several more quality looks, but could not push one past Ursinus goalkeeper Josiah Moore. Eastern's best chance came in the 65th minute, as Sievert ripped a shot that just sailed high over the net. Sievert led the Eagles with four shots in the contest, while Pfau finished with two.
"We were pretty good in the first half. We generated some really good chances," Eastern Head Coach
Luca Mellor said. "But their keeper made two really good saves. In the second half, they sat back and protected their lead which didn't allow us to generate chances in transition."
Eastern (2-1-2) will be back on the road Saturday for a 3:00 pm matchup with DeSales.
