If the outcome of Saturday's Patriot League lacrosse match against Lafayette was ever in doubt, it couldn't have been for more than 22 seconds. After AU senior Tara Michael scored from the left side at 29:38 and then from the right side three minutes later, it didn't take long to figure out where this game was heading.
The Eagles (4-4, 3-0 PL) slammed the Leopards with a 17-3 win that was their largest victory of the season and one of the largest in years. AU's most lopsided win came in 1997 with a 17-goal defeat of Duquesne.
"We've been mentally preparing for Lafayette all week," AU coach Ashley Flanigan said. "It was showtime today and the team brought everything they had."
Seven of the starters put a point on the board and five scored multiple points. Junior Rebecca Copeland (three goals, two assists) and sophomore Moriah Linnell (four goals, one assist) led the relentless attack.
AU's starting goalkeeper, sophomore Kathleen Finnegan, allowed only one goal in 40 minutes of play, but she was hardly tested. Lafayette only mustered 11 shots to AU's 30, as the Eagle defense prevented the Leopards from getting much time on the attack.
Also tallying multiple points was senior Katy Zaweski, who had a goal and an assist, but she turned into the biggest loss in her team's biggest win. She went down in the offensive zone with an injury to her left knee midway through the first half and never returned.
Flanigan said Zaweski, who previously had problems with her right knee, may have suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury and will undergo an Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Monday.
Zaweski has six goals and three assists this season and is sixth on the team in scoring.
"Especially with our short roster, we've got to hope she'll be back for the Patriot League tournament," Flanigan said.
If AU plays as it did Saturday in the conference tournament, there might just be more than enough offense to make up for any losses to injury. Tara Michael, another highlight of the offense who finished with four goals, set the tone for the assault on the Lafayette goal with two quick tallies.
Lafayette then mustered its only offense of the first half at 23:15 with a goal from Lauren Ricca that dribbled past Finnegan. The Leopards had a few more chances in the little time they were in the AU zone, but key stick saves by the Eagle goalkeepers kept them to one goal.
AU followed Lafayette's score with seven consecutive goals before halftime. Copeland had two assists and a goal to lead the run. She quarterbacked a rush up the field in which she fed the cutting senior attacker Courtney Bennett at the net to put AU up 8-1 at 9:59 left.
AU was up 9-1 heading into the second session and stormed on for seven more consecutive goals and a Lafayette goalkeeper change. The Leopards scored two more goals toward the end of the game past reserve sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Mackintosh, but they were hardly enough to close the massive deficit.
AU returns to Reeves Field Tuesday afternoon for a non-conference match against 0-7 University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
