The American University lacrosse team (5-7) fell to the Lafayette Leopards (5-6) 10-8 on March 26 at Jacobs Field in its annual Pride celebration game.
The Eagles entered the game off of a 20-3 defeat at Holy Cross after beating the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at home.
The Eagles, looking to rebound from a heavy loss, started this game strong. After sophomore defender Deirdre Brown won the opening draw, the Eagles capitalized and scored less than a minute into the game. Junior attacker Annabelle Jackson fed senior attacker Becca Frank for the early lead.
American pressured the Lafayette goal with shots as senior attacker Maddy Spratt hit the post and one of Frank’s shots soared just over the net. Meanwhile on the other end, the Eagles’ defense held firm and forced Lafayette turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Caleigh Forti came up with two saves, preventing the Leopards from equalizing.
With five minutes left in the quarter, the Eagles extended their lead thanks to Frank’s second goal of the game and 16th of the season, assisted by senior attacker Alyssa Apuzzo. Forti added two more saves to hold the Leopards scoreless entering the second quarter. The Eagles scored less than a minute into this quarter, too. This time the goal came from junior midfielder Kellie Linehan, assisted by Apuzzo.
One minute later, junior midfielder Reagan Murdoch extended the lead, bringing the score to 4-0. Spratt scored a free position shot less than five minutes into the quarter to push the lead to 5-0. However, Lafayette took control of the game midway through the second as Leopards midfielder Sophia Spallone scored twice in less than a minute to cut the lead to 5-2.
After Spallone tallied, twice the momentum swung in favor of Lafayette as American struggled to generate offense. Lafayette then converted two free position shots later in the quarter to cut the lead to 5-4 going into halftime.
Lafayette’s momentum continued into the third quarter as the Leopards tied the game less than a minute into the second half. Leopards midfielder Olivia Kelley gave Lafayette the 6-5 lead just three minutes later. The Eagles equalized halfway through the quarter on a free position shot from senior midfielder Ashley Smith.
Smith’s effort wasn’t enough as the Leopards continued to overwhelm the Eagles offensively and defensively. Lafayette slowed the Eagles’ offensive rhythm and managed to exploit the Eagles’ defense. The Leopards went on a 3-goal run in which Spallone completed her hat trick, giving the Leopards a 9-6 lead at the end of the third, having trailed 5-0 midway through the second quarter.
Murdoch scored early in the fourth quarter, pulling American within reach of Lafayette. This goal also marked Murdoch’s 100th career point as an Eagle. As the Eagles searched for a goal, their defense tightened up and forced Lafayette to make mistakes. Forti did her part and made saves to keep the Eagles in the game. With around five minutes to go in the game, Spratt scored from an assist by Linehan to make it 9-8.
Spallone killed the Eagles’ surge when she tallied her fourth goal and put the game out of reach with two minutes to go. The Eagles dropped to 1-3 in the Patriot League and 5-6 overall as the Leopards secured their first Patriot League win.
“Our game plan was to try and start strong and they did that. We just weren’t able to sustain it,” head coach Lindsay Teeters said. “They did a great job of sending doubles and putting pressure on us. From an offensive perspective we need to recognize the doubles and move the ball a little bit faster and then defensively I think we could have been a little bit more aggressive on some of those sweeps.”
The Eagles fell at Colgate 17-11 on March 29 and will return home to take on Army on April 5.
“We have to continue to reset. It’s been two really tough games, and this one coming up is a great opportunity,” Teeters added. “We’ve already got one win in the Patriot League so now we’re looking for number two.”
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Penelope Jennings and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Olivia Citarella.
