In the first of its two fall dual matches, the Muhlenberg men’s tennis team defeated East Stroudsburg, 6-3.

Unlike a regular spring match, the teams played singles first. Senior Craig Elmore’s three-set win at No. 5 gave the Mules a 4-2 lead, which would be enough to clinch a traditional match using seven-point scoring, in which doubles counts for one point. But the coaches agreed to make each doubles match worth a point, so the Mules needed to win one of the three against their Division II opponents to secure the victory.

They did, taking two close matches. Seniors Jeff Kraft and Mitchell Reading came from behind to win at No. 1, 8-6, and freshmen Doug Wayne and Matt O’Donnell teamed up for a 9-7 win at No. 3.

Kraft also won his singles match.

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Dello Russo opened the scoring in the final 10 minutes of the first half

Senior Stacey Spector made a career-high eight saves in 72 shutout minutes.

when she chipped the ball over the ’keeper’s head on a breakaway for her second goal of the season.

The Mules (7-3-1) broke the game open with three goals in the second half. They converted their only corner kick into a goal when junior Amy Schmidt picked up a loose ball in the box and fired it into the net for her third goal in two days. Senior Rebecca Armstrong, who also scored in Wednesday’s 3-0 shutout of Bryn Mawr, made the tally 3-0 off a feed from sophomore Elana Rabinowitz in the 60th minute.

Less than eight minutes later, sophomore Stephanie Pistilli notched her first career goal to cap Muhlenberg’s scoring.

The Cyclones (7-3) built their large shot total against the Mules’ reserves in the last 20 minutes, spoiling the shutout on a goal with 7:34 to play.

The win was the 150th in the 14-year history of women’s soccer at Muhlenberg.

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