Game 17: Eastern v. Wilkes

The Eagles recognized four seniors on Saturday (from left to right): Ben Barnhart, Jair Saez, Nick Policastro and Eric Giovagnoli.

ST. DAVIDS, Pa.—Eastern University Men’s Soccer clinched the top seed in the Freedom Conference on Saturday afternoon, shutting out Wilkes University 4-0 in the final game of the regular season.

With the win, the Eagles improved to 14-3 on the year and 6-1 in the Freedom Conference. The Eagles, who have earned five of those conference wins via shutout, have earned home field advantage in the conference tournament for the second year in a row. Last year, as the No. 1 seed, the Eagles were eliminated by FDU-Florham in the semifinal round. The Eagles will get a shot a redemption when they host FDU-Florham on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the conference semifinals.

The Eagles honored seniors Jair Saenz, Nick Policastro, Ben Barnhart and Eric Giovagnoli prior to the game and received three of the four goals from Barnhart and Giovagnoli.

In the 17th minute, Giovagnoli found his first goal after an assist from an unlikely candidate, goalkeeper Jamie Stratton. Stratton boomed a punt to the Wilkes’ 18. Giovagnoli played it on the hop, scurrying behind the center back and finishing his 11th goal of the year.

In addition to getting the assist, Stratton also recorded two saves. Policastro relieved Stratton in the second half and also recorded two saves.

Barnhart made it a 2-0 game in the 30th minute, ramping a shot off a defender up and over Wilkes’ keeper Kyle Romm. Neither team found the back of the net for the next 40 minutes until Giovagnoli tallied his second of the game. Andrew Ferman booked it down the right sideline to chase down a pass sent by right back Vanji Moise. Ferman beat his defender to the ball and found Giovagnoli filling into the space at the top of the penalty box. Giovagnoli took one touch and popped the ball over the diving keeper.

Eastern put the final nail in the coffin in the 88th minute with JT Spadin’s first collegiate goal. Spadin rebounded a deflected shot taken by Lucas Hutchinson and finished it near the right post.

Should the Eagles advance past Tuesday’s conference semifinal game, they will host the winner of Misericordia/King’s on Saturday early afternoon.