ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – Eastern University scored the first five goals of the game and never ceded the lead as the Eagles defeated the Manhattanville women's lacrosse team by a 16-8 score in a Middle Atlantic Conference matchup on Wednesday afternoon in St. Davids, Pa.

Eastern senior Jessie Basch led all players with seven points, tallying five goals and two assists. Sophomore teammate Grace Griffith was not far behind with five points on four goals and one assist.

For Manhattanville, senior tri-captain Katie Bertel (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led the team with four goals and added an assist for five points, marking the first time this season that a Valiant other than senior tri-captain Abbe Grimes (Hamden, Conn.) led the team in scoring. Grimes had a goal and an assist for the Valiants.

The Eagles outshot Manhattanville, 37-22, on the afternoon and also held a 25-19 edge in shots on goal. Eagles senior Kimberly Campbell made 11 saves to earn the win for the home team, while Valiant sophomore Kirstin Betsill (Parkton, Md.) stopped nine shots.

Eastern began the game with five consecutive goals, putting Manhattanville down by five with 9:42 gone by in the first half. Eagles' senior Erin Reimel started the scoring with a pair of goals, with the first coming only 28 seconds into the game and the second coming 2:18 later. The Eagles continued to score until Grimes netted her only goal of the game – her 39th of the year – off a pass from junior Cybil Robinson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) with 19:29 left in the half.

Grimes' tally began a brief 3-0 run for the visiting team, as sophomore Cassie Kovac (Saugerties, N.Y.) followed 36 seconds later with her 17th of the year and Bertel took a pass from Grimes and beat Campbell for the first time with 13:43 left on the clock.

The Eagles responded by holding Manhattanville to just three shots (only one on goal) for the rest of the half while scoring the final three goals of the frame to take an 8-3 lead into intermission.

The second half was no kinder to Manhattanville, as Eastern scored eight of the period's first 10 goals to put the game away. The Valiants showed a little life late in the match, as Bertel converted a pair of free-position attempts and sophomore Emelda Ogweta (Portland, Maine) scored as well, but the Valiants ran out of time.

Manhattanville (6-3, 2-3 MAC) will complete its season-long three-game road trip on Saturday, as the Valiants take on Messiah College beginning at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (4-4, 3-2 MAC) will travel to King's (Pa.) College on Saturday at noon.

2009-04-01