In their first season-opening victory since 2002, the AU women's lacrosse team defeated Davidson on Saturday, 9-5, at Maryland's Women's Lacrosse Complex.
The Eagles began the first game of the 2007 season in an early hole, when Davidson's Cheli Bleda scored just under two minutes into the first half.
Not to be outdone in front of their home crowd, American came back with a strong attack, scoring six goals in the next 21 minutes to go up 6-1 on the Wildcats. Junior Lauren Aksinoff, who led all scorers with five points on the day, would score two goals during the run-off assists from junior Jackie Lane and freshman Amanda Maiko.
Davidson would come back to score two with three minutes left to play in the first, including a goal by Emily Diefendorf that came just shy of the 40-second mark to bring the score to 6-3.
Davidson threatened in the opening minutes of the second when Diefendorf scored the first goal of the half of a free position shot to put the score at 6-4.
However, the Eagles' junior duo of Askinoff and Lane would combine again for a goal and an assist apiece to ensure a comfortable lead for American.
It was a battle to the finish as both teams held off attacks from the other side to keep the score at 8-4. Though Davidson had 18 shots on the half, American goalkeeper Kristine Vida allowed only two goals, including a free position shot from Haley Cook. Vida had 18 saves on the day, the most by an AU goalie since April, 2005.
The Eagles, who had 12 shots on the half, had the final score of the game when sophomore Leslie Fischer netted an unassisted goal with just over a minute left to play.
The win puts American at 1-0 for the season, and marks head coach Katie Woods' first career victory. Woods, in her first season at AU, previously held assistant coaching positions at Brown, Cornell and Davidson.
The Eagles next travel to Towson next Monday to take on the Tigers at 4 p.m.
