The fourth time was the charm for the Misericordia University men's lacrosse team as the Cougars claimed their first MAC Freedom title in their fourth finals appearance with a 6-1 win over Eastern, Saturday night at Mangelsdorf Field. The Cougars earned their first ever NCAA Tournament berth while improving to 12-3 and setting a new school record for wins in a season. Eastern had won five consecutive MAC Freedom titles, including three finals wins over MU. Tournament MVP John Tierney had four ground balls and one caused turnover and Matt Beck made eight saves. Brandon Winslow scored two goals and collected five ground balls for the Cougars while Pat Kellish had a goal and two assists. Chris Fleming, Sean McSwiggan and Jake Kocovsky all added goals. Ryan Romaine was 7-11 on face-offs and had four ground balls and Kyle Reese added two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Winslow opened the scoring when he scooped up a rebound off the right post and placed a shot in the left corner of the cage for a man-up goal less than two minutes into the game. Kocovsky made it 2-0 four minutes later when he fired a shot across the crease into the bottom right corner. Beck made a big save late in the first quarter on Eastern's Sean Fechter and the Cougars led 2-0 after one period. Romaine took the second quarter face-off and found Kellish on the left wing where he whipped a low shot inside the right post for a 3-0 lead just 11 seconds into the period. Fechter got Eastern on the board with a man-up goal late in the second quarter, but Winslow got in back just before halftime when he scooped up a ground ball near midfield and raced 40 yards before bouncing a shot inside the right post. After a scoreless third period, Kellish fed McSwiggan and Fleming on fourth-quarter scores for the final margin of victory. Kellish collected a ground ball off an Eastern turnover deep in its own end and found McSwiggan who ripped a shot in the upper right corner. Kellish connected with Fleming in front of the net for the final tally with 7:16 remaining.