The Eagles dominated possession from the outset, and it seemed that they had broken into the scoring column in the tenth minute on a corner kick goal. The referee determined that Brandon Reichart, who finished the Jair Saenz serve, had made too much contact with Wilkes' goalkeeper Dave Marr.
Beaumont broke the tie in the 24th minute with a fantastic individual effort. The junior forward ran behind the Wilkes back line for a ball on the right flank and cut the ball central to split a pair of defenders for a left-footed blast that was past Marr before he could react. Only eight minutes earlier, the senior goalkeeper had stopped a similar strike from Beaumont at close range.
Soccer Recap from Homecoming from EU Athletics on Vimeo.
With one goal in hand, the Eagles pressed even deeper into Wilkes territory. Eastern had four corner kicks in a three minute span around the half-hour mark. It appeared that John Remsberg had doubled the lead on a tight finish of a Rosenberg corner, but, in what became a theme for the day, the goal was disallowed for contact with the goalkeeper.
The second Eastern goal finally arrived in the 43rd minute. The goal came with seven freshmen on the field for the Eagles. Cirocco did the work on the left wing to earn the end line. After drawing Marr to the near post with a move toward goal, Cirocco slotted a pass into the danger zone for Rosenberg. The freshman midfielder finished his third of the year to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead at the break.
The Eagles had a 9-2 advantage in shots and a 7-1 edge in corners in the first half.
Things did not tighten up in the second half. The home squad pressed the issue throughout the second half. Marr made six of his 11 saves in the second half and was very busy managing served balls throughout the opening parts of the period. Eastern enjoyed a 12-1 edge in shots after intermission.
Even with the domination in possession and field position, the game remained at the tenuous 2-0 mark until Cirocco founded the upper window in the 81st minute. Cirocco ran down a clever lofted pass from Sawyer Pascoe and cracked a left-footed blast from just inside the corner of the box to the far post.
Kyle Nichols picked up the shutout in goal for the Eagles. The win lifts Eastern (7-3-1, 2-2) into the playoff mix in the Freedom Conference with three games to play. They return to action on Wednesday with a critical contest against King's. The Monarchs entered play today at 2-1 in league play.
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