ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – Eastern University scored the lone goal of the match in the 72nd minute as the Eagles defeated Manhattanville College by a 1-0 score in a Freedom Conference women's soccer matchup on Saturday afternoon at Eagles Field.
 
Manhattanville (2-9-1, 0-1-1 Freedom) had difficulty getting good offensive chances on a rainy Saturday, as the Valiants were outshot by a 15-2 margin over the course of the 90 minutes. Eastern (4-9-0, 1-1-0 Freedom) took the only eight shots of the second half, managing to get one goal to escape with their first conference victory of the year.
 
The first half was played mostly in the midfield, with neither team accumulating much in terms of offensive chances. Eastern posted a 7-2 advantage in shots over the first 45 minutes.
 
Eastern started to increase the offensive pressure in the second half, including a chance by Emily Cole when she got by the Valiant defense but could not put an off-balance shot on target with the net vacated.
 
The two teams went more than 70 minutes overall before either side could put a ball into the net, when a corner kick for the home team resulted in the match's only goal. A corner by Courtney Davis eventually found the foot of Amber Stirling inside the six-yard box, and she got the ball past the Valiant defense for her third goal of the year.
 
Sophomore Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) made four saves in a losing effort for the Valiants, turning aside two shots in each half. Jules Leco needed to make just one save in the first half for the Eagles to earn the victory.
 
Manhattanville will look to pick up its first conference victory of the season on Wednesday afternoon, when the Valiants travel to DeSales for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff with the Bulldogs.