ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – A dominant start to the second half put Ursinus in position to steal a road win at Eastern on Wednesday night, but the host Eagles rattled off three straight fourth-quarter goals and hung on for a 10-9 victory in non-conference men's lacrosse action.
Sophomore Bobby McClure and junior Peter DeSimone combined to account for three markers during a 4-0 third period for the Bears (1-4), who overcame a 7-3 deficit to take a one-goal lead into the final frame. Eastern (2-4) responded with three straight to open the fourth and staved off multiple Ursinus possessions in the final minutes to pick up the win.
McClure finished with two goals and two assists, giving him at least three points in four of five games this season. DeSimone tallied two goals and one assist and became the 10th player in program history to reach 100 career points.
Freshman Aiden Baltz was a force for the Bears, winning 15 of 22 faceoffs and adding his first career goal. That tally came just eight seconds in, as the rookie controlled the opening faceoff and went right downfield to fire off his landmark score.
After the Eagles knotted the score, Baltz' faceoff win led to another quick-strike goal just seven seconds later, as McClure found DeSimone to make it 2-1 Bears.
Eastern locked down defensively, holding Ursinus off the board for more than 20 minutes of game time and scoring four goals of their own to grab a 5-2 upper hand. Senior Lou Harrison stopped the bleeding, but two more Eagle markers gave the hosts a 7-3 lead before sophomore Reagan Ketchum handed the Bears some momentum with a goal in the final minute of the first half.
Ursinus came out of the break with a purpose, netting the only four goals of the period to cap a run of five in a row. McClure bookended the frame with a pair of goals, with senior Ian Desenberg and DeSimone scoring in between, to give the visitors an 8-7 lead after three. DeSimone picked up his 100th point on an assist to McClure for a man-up marker with 3:38 remaining in the period.
Trent Ashton pulled Eastern level with 8:22 to play, and Sean Fechter finished an extended possession with the go-ahead marker at the 6:31 mark. The Eagles scored in transition to go up by two with 4:14 showing on the clock.
Senior Gerard Brown's fourth goal of the season trimmed the Eastern lead in half just 28 seconds later, and Ursinus won the ensuing faceoff. A turnover gave the ball back to the Eagles, but sophomore Parker Wolf triggered a successful clear with a ground ball following a blocked shot. Down to its last chance, the Bears turned it over and were unable to regain possession.
Fechter led all players with four goals for Eastern, and goalkeeper Jameal Hadeed collected 12 saves. Despite the deficiency in faceoffs, the Eagles held a 37-27 advantage in shots and committed only seven turnovers on the day.
Baltz proved dominant, racking up ten ground balls to give the Bears a strong possession advantage. Junior Nick Kirk finished with seven saves in the first half, and classmate Elliott Shevitz was charged with the loss after making one stop in the second half.
The men's lacrosse welcomes No. 5 Cabrini to Patterson Field on Saturday.