The American University lacrosse team (3-3) defeated crosstown rival George Washington Revolutionaries (5-1) 13-7 on Feb. 26 at Jacobs Field.
American finished a three game road trip before this matchup, with a win at George Mason in between losses at No. 16 Loyola Maryland and University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
“I’m really proud of us today for being able to bounce back, especially at home after playing a few hard games away. After the loss at UMBC, we knew we had to stick to the scout and see what we can exploit on the other team and I think we did a good job of that today,” junior midfielder Kellie Linehan said.
The Eagles started out fast as junior midfielder Reagan Murdoch scored the opening goal on an assist from senior attacker Maddy Spratt less than a minute into the game. The first quarter followed a similar pattern to their season opener against Georgetown, with American piling on the pressure for GW.
GW responded with a goal by Katie Fullowan and forced the Eagles to commit turnovers and fouls. They made senior goalkeeper Caleigh Forti come up with two big saves for American. The first save came when Forti denied the Revs from a free position shot. Then, after a bad giveaway, GW was through one on one and Forti stood tall once again to keep the Revs out.
The momentum changed when the Eagles were awarded a free position shot with less than five minutes to go into the quarter, which Linehan converted to give American a 2-1 lead.
Senior attacker Alyssa Apuzzo then won the subsequent draw, giving the Eagles more time in the attacking end. Junior attacker Rachel Kolton extended the lead to 3-1 thanks to another assist from Spratt. GW scored two minutes later, cutting the lead back to one at the end of the first quarter.
Almost a third of the way into the second quarter after forcing a Revs turnover, senior attacker Becca Frank scored her sixth goal of the season, pushing the lead to 4-2 before GW responded with a goal of their own.
The Eagles and Revs held each other scoreless for a spell, with good defensive play forcing each other into turnovers and saves. Murdoch scored her second goal of the game and tenth on the season shortly after, giving American a 5-3 lead.
The second half was an offensive outburst for the Eagles, while they simultaneously stifled GW from scoring. Linehan scored her second goal of the game off of Spratt’s third assist and her 11th on the season. Spratt scored her team-high 13th goal four minutes later on an assist from Apuzzo. While the Revs were down a player, Murdoch, after missing her original shot, got the ball back from Frank before slotting it past GW’s keeper, extending it to an 8-3 lead.
With less than five minutes left in the quarter, Linehan finished her hat trick, bringing her total goals up to 12 on the season. GW did find a consolation goal late in the third, cutting the Revs’ deficit to 5 goals.
GW found three other consolation goals in the fourth quarter but was overshadowed as American continued to find the back of the net. Linehan would tally one more on an assist from freshman attacker Madison Barber, meanwhile freshman midfielder Caroline McBride scored her first collegiate goal, making it an 11-4 lead.
Apuzzo notched her fifth goal of the season two minutes later, and Murdoch tallied her fourth of the game on Spratt’s fourth assist of the game, bringing it to 13-4. The assist brought Spratt to 64 in her career — a program record. Her four-assist game broke Casey Harkins’ record of 62.
“We have a very veteran team and for us it’s about making sure that they’re continuing to be dynamic in their play,” head coach Lindsay Teeters said. “The expectation is for them to play like this … really proud of how they came out today.”
Teeters also praised the team’s defensive effort.
“We’re looking for things to shut down … more importantly, to play as a unit, so I thought they did an incredible job. The third quarter was monumental for us and put us in an incredible position to close this game out with a solid win.”
The Eagles will next play a series of away games at Liberty University and University of North Carolina at Charlotte before returning home to Patriot League play against the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks on March 15.
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Penelope Jennings and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Olivia Citarella and Sabine Kanter-Huchting.
