Men’s Soccer is the Team to Beat

Eric Giovagnoli (right) looks to have another great season. Waltonian | The Waltonian

Last season was a season to be proud of for Eastern’s men’s soccer team. Last season the Eastern Eagles had a respectable record of 14-4-1, and finished with a conference record of 5-1-1. They ended up going to the Freedom Conference Semifinals. This year, Eastern will look to improve upon last season. This season looks like it could end up being a special one for the Eastern Eagles.
In the Freedom Conference coaches’ poll the Eastern Eagles are picked to be the favorites to win the Freedom conference before the season starts. With Coach of The Year Mark Wagner amd Player of the Year Eric Giovagnoli, it is not hard to see why many coaches throughout the Freedom Conference have selected the Eastern Eagles as the favorites to win the conference title this season. Last season, Giovagnoli led the team in both goals and assists with 12 goals and 7 assists.

Eastern is ranked ahead of teams like Misericordia, Kings, and FDU. Eastern has yet to win the Freedom Conference championship in the post season. Winning the Freedom Conference would be a huge accomplishment for head coach Mark Wagner and the Eastern Eagles.

The Eastern Eagles did get close to being Freedom Conference Champions in the past five years. In 2010 and in 2011 the Eastern Eagles fell just short of being Freedom Conference Champions and lost in the conference championship game. Eastern will also look to go to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007. To help them reach these goals Eastern has brought in a very large freshmen class, with a total of nine freshmen joining the fold this season.

Eastern will begin this season on August 29th with a road game against Rosemont. Eastern’s first home game will be on September 6th against rival Cabrini College.