Primed for playoffs

Women’s Soccer

Eastern has enjoyed a successful two weeks on the field. The team came out strong against Delaware Valley on Oct. 14. In the contest, sophomore Tess Beckwith found the back of the net twice within the first nine minutes en route to a 7-0 win. First-year Kori Wenger also scored twice, including her first collegiate goal. Senior Jill DiRenzo recorded a goal and an assist and sophomore Allison Inch and first-year Kelsey Doutrich each recorded their first goals of the season. 

Just a few days later, the Lady Eagles faced off with Wilkes on a rainy day. With the field being a factor, the team was unable to get its offense going. Wilkes drew first blood, but sophomore Bethany Engle found Doutrich for a goal to even out the match. No team was able to score again and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

In a contest against Misericordia on Oct. 20, DiRenzo used two second-half goals to give Eastern a 2-0 win. The shutout was the Lady Eagles’ sixth of the season.

Eastern was shut out on Saturday, 3-0, in their first conference loss against Manhattanville, who is currently undefeated in the MAC.

Men’s Soccer

Eastern used its momentum from a thrilling homecoming victory to defeat Delaware Valley 2-0 on Oct. 13. First- year Ryan Rohrer scored both goals, one assisted by junior Kyle Hurst.

The Eagles’ two-game winning streak was halted when the team couldn’t recover from two quick goals by Wilkes and fell 2-1 on Oct. 17. Junior Phil Mantua scored the lone goal.

Eastern drew first blood in the first two minutes against Kean University on Oct. 21.

First-year Dan Shields scored off of a rebound for his first collegiate goal. Kean went on to score two straight goals, but Eastern answered back late in the game with a goal from sophomore Braden Gross that ended the game at a 2-2 tie.

Women’s Tennis

Since the Lady Eagles overpowered FDU-Florham on homecoming weekend, the team has not been able to find its winning edge.

In two weeks of play, the team fell to three opponents. It had a close match against Manhattanville College, falling 5-4. Sophomores Bekah Roland and Allison Verdic both picked up wins in singles competition.

Wilkes shut out Eastern 9-0 a few days later for the team’s first shutout in a month.

Trying to pick up the pieces at Neumann on Oct. 20, Eastern gained a huge victory in the first match from Roland as she overpowered her opponent 6-1 in singles play.

Verdic and junior Jacquelyn Sauder added singles wins. Unfortunately, Eastern couldn’t pull away in doubles competition, losing 5-4.

Field Hockey

The Lady Eagles have been perfect the past two weeks. At DeSales on Oct. 13, seniors Kim Campbell and Lindsay Moyer both reached the back of the net in a 2-0 victory.

Two days later, the team scored three goals in the first six minutes to defeat Haverford, 3-1. Senior Olivia Derr finished with two goals and Campbell found the back of the net for the second consecutive game. First- year Kelby Bolton, junior Hope Donnelly and senior Elya Troup all recorded assists.

King’s put up a fight against Eastern.  After Troup scored an early goal to give the Lady Eagles a 1-0 edge, King’s came right back two minutes later with a goal of its own.

Campbell scored her third goal of the week, assisted by junior Sarah Garber, at the end of the first half to take the lead.  First-year Brittany Moyer finished the game off with a goal and Donnelly recorded an assist in the 3-1 victory.

At FDU-Florham on Oct. 21, Eastern didn’t stop the offensive show. Derr found the back of the net in the first half, assisted by Troup.  In the second half, Lindsay Moyer found the back of the net to seal the deal 2-0.

On Saturday, Misericordia stood no chance as Eastern jumped on its opponent early with three goals in the first 11 minutes of play. Derr scored two goals in a six-minute span.

Campbell and Garber were credited with assists. Campbell then decided to join the scoring frenzy with a goal of her own. The team’s leader in points, sophomore Yvonne Herbster, wrapped up the day, finding the cage twice in the second half. Senior Laura Ressler recorded her third shutout in a two-week span.

Volleyball

The 23rd-ranked Lady Eagles rolled over Misericordia on Oct. 14. The second game was close when the contest was tied at 17, but Eastern used eight straight points to close the door on the Cougars, 3-0.

After just a day off, the Lady Eagles went on a trip to the Midwest. Eastern fell to #1 Wisconsin-Oshkosh 3-2. With senior outside hitter Bridget Carey sustaining an injury, Eastern was still able to extend Oshkosh to five games, becoming only the second team to do so this year.

Eastern bounced back later in the day against St. Catherine’s. First-year Kelly Groff finished with an outstanding 35 digs, which is the third highest single match total in program history. Sophomore All-American Maria Horning collected 62 assists in the match.
The next day, Eastern had an early match against #6 Carthage.  Eastern fell short of upsetting Carthage and the Lady Eagles fell 3-1.

Against Luther, Eastern rallied behind sophomore Courtney Reinhold’s record-setting 32 kills for the 3-1 victory. Horning earned All-Tournament team honors as she finished with 50 assists.

Eastern defeated Wilkes, 3-0, the following week to secure the number-one seed in the Freedom Conference playoffs. Sophomore Mary Poole finished with nine kills and Horning contributed 30 assists.

In a home trimatch on Oct. 24, the team added two more victories to its 23-4 record in games against Philadelphia Biblical and Widener. The Lady Eagles easily downed PBU in straight sets, with Reinhold picking up 14 kills and three aces.

In the second match of the day, the team came out strong against Widener in the first game. However, the Lady Eagles dropped their first home game of the year in the second set before rallying back to down the Pride in the next two games for the 3-1 victory.

Horning recorded 74 assists on the day, eclipsing the 1000-assist mark for the season.