PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's soccer team dropped a closely contested matchup against nationally ranked Eastern University in their first MAC Freedom matchup of the season. 
 
The Valiants (5-4-1 overall, 0-1 MAC Freedom) got off to a shaky start in the first half, with a few defensive miscues that proved to be costly.  In the 12th minute, Eastern (10-0-1, 1-0 MAC Freedom) earned a free kick in the attacking end of the field.  After initially making the save, senior goalkeeper Willie Silber (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) was run into by a teammate, knocking the ball out of his hands and into the goal to give Eastern a 1-0 advantage. 
 
Looking to bounce back from the shaky start, Manhattanville answered quickly, breaking free on a counter-attack in the 15th minute.  Freshman Hugo Landberg (Stockholm, Sweden/The Aquinas Institute of Rochester) found fellow freshman Oskar Martinsson (Orust, Sweden/Uddevalla Gymnasieskola) with a great through ball, springing him to a one-on-one opportunity that led to the Swede finding the back of the net to tie the game 1-1.
 
The Valiants and Eagles battled for the next 72 minutes of action, with each team having opportunities to go on top, but were unable to capitalize.  Eastern had a great look at goal in the 61st minute, but Silber made a fantastic diving save on a shot from outside the box to keep the game tied.  Manhattanville came inches from taking the lead in the 76th minute, when Landberg volleyed a ball from 30 yards out that drilled the crossbar, keeping the game tied.
 
As the game appeared to be heading to overtime, Manhattanville was called for a questionable foul just outside their own penalty box in the 88th minute.  Eastern's leading goal scorer JD Saracco fired a shot that found its way through several bodies and beat Silber to give the Eagles a late lead, which they would not relinquish. 
 
Manhattanville returns to action on Monday when they travel to Medgar Evers College for a non-conference matchup.  Kickoff is set for 6:00 P.M.