In a back-and-forth affair between two heated rivals, the Eastern University Eagles men’s soccer team prevailed over Cabrini in overtime, 1-0.
The score told the story, showing that it was as close of a game as most people will see.
Both goalies were on top of their game but Eastern’s John Crowder got the better of Cabrini’s Eric Nowicki. Nowicki stopped three shots that day while Crowder stopped six.
The loss leaves Cabrini at a record of 0-7-0, while Eastern improved to 3-2-1.
The deciding goal of the match came four minutes into overtime, when Eastern senior midfielder Phil Manuta’s header from freshman Caleb McMain snuck by Nowicki.
“Whenever you play Eastern, no matter what sport it is, it’s always a huge game,” Abiu Santos, sophomore midfielder, said.
“Our record wasn’t very good coming in and we really wanted to improve on it. It just didn’t happen. We played our hearts out and we couldn’t make the plays.”
The Cavaliers not only lost the match but they may have lost one of their biggest assets.
Midway through the second half, senior midfielder King Saah hurt his left foot on a diving attempt to break up a play. He was helped off the field by an Eastern player and one of Cabrini’s trainers. He did not return to the game.
“Losing King is huge,” coach Glen Jaskelewicz, said.
“When you lose a key component like that, it really changes the outcome of the game and the personnel on the field. When we played Rutgers-Camden, we were up 1-0 with him out there. He gets a concussion, we lose 3-1. We were tied 0-0 today, he gets hurt again and we lost. I think that really shows how valuable he is to us.”
This was the third straight one-goal game between the two teams.
The Cabrini offense totaled 10 shots on goal while Eastern totaled 12. The only shot Eastern took in the overtime period proved to be the winner.
Jim Mattock, Gabe Kuhn and Taylor Scarpino were all hit with one yellow card each for Cabrini during the match.
This was the only meeting of the regular season between the teams.
Cabrini will try to rewrite their winless streak on Wednesday, Sept. 22, when they hit the road to take on non-conference opponent Franklin & Marshall College at 7 p.m.
