ST. DAVIDS, PA (April 13, 2019) -- King's College men's lacrosse sophomore Gabe Vansuch tallied with 41 seconds to go to send the game to overtime, but Eastern University scored 27 seconds into the extra period to outlast the Monarchs 8-7 in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) action from Olson Field Saturday. 

The Monarchs (3-9, 1-3 MAC Freedom) were looking to pick off the Eagles (8-6, 4-0 MAC Freedom) for the first time on Saturday, and nearly did thanks to some outstanding defensive play and timely goal scoring. Senior Matt Basile has been lights out of late, stopping 74 percent of the shots his way each of the last three games, and he nearly helped King's steal one Saturday. 

The Eagles though would burst out of the gate quick, scoring three goals over the first 3:14 of the game as Antonio Yeoman tallied with help from Hassan Mackey. King's would stop the run on an Omar Nijmeh tally but EU got one back right before the end of the first quarter to make it 4-1 heading to the second. 

King's cut into its deficit at 13:27 of the second quarter, as long stick Sam Moyer took a clear attempt to the house, collecting his first career goal. The two teams would exchange goals before the end of the break, as Eastern took a 5-2 edge into the halftime intermission. Basile made 11 stops in the first half, as the Eagles outshot King's 27-14 over the first 30 minutes. 

In the third quarter, King's would get to within one at 6-5 following goals from Brian Steiger and Jared Gambino separated by only 47 seconds. The Eagles once again tallied just before the end of the quarter, as Mark Buannic posted a man-up goal to make it 7-5.

In the fourth, King's played a complete period both offensively and defensively, cutting the Eastern lead in half at 7:30 of the fourth as Vansuch tallied from Charlie Alessi for his 20th of the season. Basile would stop four Eastern attempts, including one with 48 seconds left to start the breakout. 

Basile fed the ball downfield to Ryan Matusiewicz, who rumbled towards cage, feeding Vansuch for the game-tying goal and sending the King's sidelines into a frenzy. Just before the end of regulation though, KC would take a pushing penalty that leaking into the overtime session. 

On the first shot of the extra period, Sam Emig would notch a man-up goal unassisted to help his team earn the win. Six players scored on the day for the Monarchs, while Matusiewicz finished with a goal, assist and two ground balls. Mike McDougal had another phenomenal day defensively, causing four turnovers while picking up three ground balls. 

Junior Jacob Wrede finished with two ground balls, and Moyer added three loose ball pickups in addition to his score. Basile allowed seven goals on 46 shot attempts along with 20 stops, the third time this season he's finished with 20 or more saves. 

Eastern had five players with two points apiece, as Emig, Trenton Ashton and Buannic each had two goals. Brett McDonald stopped eight King's shots for Eastern, which outshot the Monarchs 46-29 on the game. EU also earned 12 of the 18 face-off wins, and was 2-for-3 on man-up chances.

King's will take on another team at the top of the MAC Freedom standings on Wednesday, hosting DeSales University (13-0, 4-0 MAC Freedom) at 7 p.m. in McCarthy Stadium in an important conference contest.