Eastern University's Eric Giovagnoli works a ball past a Drew defender in Tuesday's win. Giovagnoli had his five-game goal-scoring streak snapped, but he did have an assist.
All three first-half goals came on restart chances. Eastern’s Jadon Ramsing started the scoring when he finished a Ben Barnhart corner kick in the 11th minute of the match. Ramsing, a freshman midfielder, beat his mark to the near post and skimmed a well-placed header to the back post for his second goal of the year.
Five minutes later, the visiting Rangers (3-2-4) answered with a restart goal of their own after a handball near the sideline in front of their bench. The initial service bounced off a pair of Eastern defenders. The Eagles were unable to clear and Dylan Hammer connected with a powerful volley into the upper corner to knot the score at one.
The Rangers had several more chances to score, but the Eastern defense stood strong in front of senior goalkeeper Nick Policastro.
In the 32nd minute, Jair Saenz scored his first goal of the year to put the Eagles up for good. His free-kick goal came from nearly the exact spot that had been so fruitful for the visitors. The senior left back drilled a hard-bending serve in front of a pair of Eastern attackers. Neither player was able to connect, but the goalkeeper had to hold his positioning and the ball kicked into the upper corner of the goal.
Drew held a slim 7-5 advantage in first-half shots.
The Eagles had more of the play in the second half, but the visiting Rangers were able to put together several dangerous opportunities of long balls and restart chances.
It was not until the 85th minute of the match that Eastern was able to expand the lead.
The critical insurance goal came after Xavier Young stole the ball on the right side. The freshman right back pushed the ball forward to Hunter Rosenberg in space. Rosenberg turned and feathered a beautiful pass behind the Drew backline for Eric Giovagnoli. Giovagnoli drove toward the goal and pulled the goalkeeper and the defense to the right side. He played a pass across the face and Josh Cirrocco drove it into the lower corner for a 3-1 edge. Giovagnoli saw his scoring string stopped at five matches, but he still had plenty of influence on the match.
Policastro picked up his sixth win of the year in goal.
The win keeps a positive run of results going for the Eagles. Eastern is ranked fifth in the most recent NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings. The Eagles host Albright College on Saturday at 1 pm.
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