ST. DAVIDS, PA – An early deficit and decisive advantage in face-offs for Eastern proved too much for the fourth-seeded Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team to overcome on Wednesday afternoon, as the top-seeded Eagles advanced to the MAC Freedom championship game by a final score of 20-5.

Sophomore Will Duval (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay) scored twice for Manhattanville (8-9), one more than classmates T.J. Caccavo (Carlsbad, Calif./San Marcos) and Nick Delia (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South), and senior Tyler Bentrewicz (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) all scored. Sophomore Jason Frezza (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Portledge) and freshman Mike McGrath (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) combined for 13 saves for the Valiants. Sean Fechter and Hassan Mackey both finished with hat tricks for Eastern (11-6), two of the Eagles' 14 different goal-scorers.

Eastern won the game's first six faceoffs and grabbed 10 of the game's first 12 ground balls as it raced out to a 5-0 lead just past the midway point of the first quarter.
Caccavo scored his 18^th goal of the season off Duval's 37^th assist, his 29^th in his last eight games, at 4:16 of the first quarter. Caccavo's score kickstarted a three-goal spurt by the Valiants, as Bentrewicz and Delia both followed up Caccavo's goal with scores of their own, but Eastern countered with the next four goals, opening a six-goal lead at the half.

Eastern's run continued into the second half, as the Eagles shut out the Valiants in the third quarter while adding seven of their own, taking a 16-3 lead to the fourth quarter.
Duval scored back-to-back goals at 13:27 and 12:35 of the fourth quarter, but the Eagles responded with the final four goals of the game.

Eastern finished with a 42-22 advantage in ground balls and won 20 of the game's 28 face-offs, holding a Manhattanville offense to less than half of its 11+ goals per game average.

The season ends for the Valiants, but not before the program's first eight-win season since 2008. With more than 70% of the team's scoring expected back next season, Manhattanville's climb up the MAC Freedom ranks is in great position to continue in 2019.