ST. DAVIDS, PA – Visiting Wilkes University held a 5-4 lead at the half only to see the host Eastern University rally back outscoring the Colonels 7-2 over the final two quarters to post an 11-7 victory in the semifinals of the MAC Freedom Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Olson Field.
 
Wilkes' season ends at 9-8 overall while Eastern improved to 12-6 overall on the year and advances to the MAC Freedom Championship game on Saturday. The Colonels made their first appearance in the postseason tournament since the program's rebirth.
 
Eastern raced out to a 3-0 lead scoring the game's first three goals at the 12:01, 10:26 and 5:14 mark of the first quarter. Nico Lorenzo (Howell, NJ/Howell) stopped the opening rally by the Eagles scoring his 20^th goal of the season off a pass from Ethan Weaver (Olney, MD/James Hubert Blake) with 3:56 left in the quarter.
 
John Wink (Glenside, PA/Abington) continued to cut into the deficit as the senior notched his team-leading 57^th goal off another assist from Weaver with :35 left in the first quarter trimming the Eagles lead to 3-2 after one.
 
Eastern added a goal in the first four minutes of the second quarter before back-to-back Wilkes goals from Connor Daly (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Twp.) and Weaver tied the game for the first time at 4-4. Daly's strike was unassisted while Weaver scored on the man advantage thanks to a helper from Wink.
 
Daly made the comeback complete with 2:15 left in the half scoring his 27^th goal of the season after taking a pass from Alex Myers (Cortland, NY/Cortland) as the Colonels took the 5-4 advantage into the break.
 
After the Eagles tied the game at 5-5 three minutes into the third quarter, Lorenzo notched his second strike of the game putting the Colonels ahead for the second time up 6-5 with 12:39 left in the frame.
 
From there it was a 5-0 Eastern run over a 19-minute stretch that gave the Eagles a 10-6 lead they would never relinquish. Wink added his second of the contest late in the fourth to cut the advantage to 10-7, but another Eastern goal with under two minutes remaining sealed the home postseason victory for the Eagles.
 
Weaver led all scorers for Wilkes with four points on one goal and three assists capping off a fine rookie campaign. Wink finished off his record-setting season with three points on two goals and one helper. The senior finished off his career with 210 points and 139 goals.
 
Carter Whittemore (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit) made 17 saves in goal for Wilkes. Eastern held team advantages in shots, ground balls and successful clearing attempts that helped lead to the win.