Homecoming sports wrap

Women’s Soccer:

The women’s soccer team struggled with the rain in their homecoming game against Stevens Tech, ranked 25th in the nation.

“We played really well in the first half, but made a few key errors in the second half,” coach Dan Mouw said.

Stephanie Frank scored the first goal of the game, which was also the first goal scored on Eastern’s new turf field.

In the second half, however, the team fell behind.

“[At one point,] we battled back to get a goal to tie it up, which I think showed character,” Mouw said.

The final score favored Stevens Tech 4-2.

by Rebecca Harwick

Men’s Soccer:

Shining through the dreary wetness of Homecoming weekend, the men’s soccer team played for the first time at Eastern’s newly renovated Stuart Memorial Field.

Playing the late game in a women’s/men’s doubleheader, the men’s team easily defeated Gwynedd-Mercy College 3-0.

Prior to Saturday’s game, Gwynedd-Mercy had won six in a row and had tied the twenty-first ranked team in the country. It was an important win for Eastern.

Scoring first for the Eagles was sophomore forward Lance Burris (his first goal of the season), coming mid-way through the first half. Gwynedd-Mercy didn’t get much of a chance to score for the rest of the game due to a solid game played by Eastern’s midfield and defense.

In the second half, first-year midfielder Drew Lamparter scored his third goal of the season and sophomore defenseman Cliff Gehret scored his fifth goal of the season.

Standing in the rain, Eastern students, alumni, parents and faculty loyally watched their Eagles trudge to a still undefeated 12-0 record.

The new state of the art SpinTurf field held up well against the force of rain that pummeled it all day long. The Eagles adapted well to playing on their new field despite the weather that made the playing surface even slicker.

The men’s soccer team, currently ranked eleventh in the nation among NCAA Division III schools, is now 6-0 in league play. The Eagles face league rivals College Misericordia (10/12) and Cabrini College (10/17) in the next two weeks.

by Alex Long

Women’s Volleyball:

Volleyball bumped their record up to 22-0 this season with a 3-0 victory over Cabrini.

“We had a lot of pretty good plays,” coach Mark Birtwistle said. “At one point in the third game, Mandy Platt served five or six [points] in a row.”

Kara Hildebrand and Jacey Bray also had stand-out games.

“It was a good team effort today,” Birtwistle said.

Before the game, setter Erin Meredith was given a volleyball by the team in honor of hitting the 5,000 assist mark at the September 30 tournament in Boston.

by Rebecca Harwick, with reporting by Ruth Robinson

Field hockey, tennis to play another dayEven as the new turf field was put to the test in the men’s and women’s soccer games, women’s field hockey and tennis had their games postponed due to the wet conditions. Field hockey was scheduled to play Alvernia, while the women’s tennis team was scheduled to face Gwynedd-Mercy. Dates and times for the re-scheduled games had not been announced at press time.

by Rebecca Harwick