The American University lacrosse team (3-2) beat the George Washington Revolutionaries (1-4) 10-5 on Feb. 21 at GW’s Mount Vernon Athletic Field.
The Revolutionaries began the game strong, winning the opening draw control and holding it until American junior goalkeeper Caleigh Forti caused a turnover. However, GW regained their hold, and attacker Shea Baggett knocked in the first goal of the game.
GW kept up the pressure and won the ensuing draw control, then marched down to American’s crease. After a foul by senior defender Jordan Mitchell, the Revolutionaries took a free position shot, with Forti bailing out her teammate with a save. Shortly after, senior midfielder Hannah Spease took the ball back down to the other end of the field and evened the score.
The Revolutionaries and Eagles traded turnovers, ground balls and shots, but the two goalies held strong for the rest of the quarter and the teams finished the first locked at 1-1.
As the second quarter picked up, the offensive stalemate continued. American fell victim to the shot clock at one point as they passed a few too many times and struggled to cut through GW’s defense. Following 20 minutes without a goal from either side, GW midfielder Bailey Aaron finally broke through with a goal and retook the lead.
American was never out of the game and quickly earned the player advantage when GW’s Stella Ray was sent off with a 10 minute yellow card. The Eagles capitalized, and just after GW goalkeeper Mia Caro saved a shot from junior attacker Maddy Spratt, sophomore midfielder Reagan Murdoch quickly retied the game with a woman-up free position goal. American had the chance to add another when sophomore midfielder Kellie Linehan took another free position shot, however GW’s defense crashed on her and she never got a good shot off.
Soon after, junior defender Jenna Walls received a 10-minute yellow card of her own, and GW attacker Everly Kessler followed Murdoch’s woman-up free position recipe to retake the lead. The first half concluded with the Revolutionaries up 3-2 after the two teams alternated scoring.
That pattern changed 90 seconds into the third quarter when GW’s Aaron scored her second of the day and her team’s second consecutive goal.
American would respond with a scoring streak of their own. Junior attacker Alyssa Apuzzo struck first to bring the Eagles within one. Thanks to another save by Forti, the Eagles got the ball back, and Spratt tied the game at 4. A couple of minutes later after lots of passing around the eight meter arc, junior attacker Becca Frank netted one to propel American to their first lead of the game. But a one goal lead is not very strong, and so Frank reinforced that lead with another goal less than a minute later.
The visitors had more chances to increase their lead but Caro remained steady in her crease and denied the Eagles. She saved Linehan’s free position shot, cleared the ball up the field and put her teammates in position to score. Revolutionary midfielder Haley Bolton made use of Caro’s efforts and halved American’s lead. After Bolton’s goal, the third quarter concluded with a score of 6-5, AU.
Ray won the quarter-opening draw control and fed her team the ball, but none of their shots would go, thanks to Forti. The junior goalie’s save let her team rebuild their lead, and soon enough sophomore attacker Annabelle Jackson scored.
A five minute goal drought followed with a handful of turnovers and fouls by both teams. Just a minute after GW took a timeout, Apuzzo cut through and notched her second of the game. The Eagles were flying, and the Revolutionaries could not stop their assault. Spratt won the draw control, and Frank stormed right back to the goal and secured her hat trick. Not to be left out of Apuzzo and Frank’s multi-goal games, Murdoch followed their lead and scored again to bring the score to 10-5. The same team that could not secure a lead the entire first half now was ahead by 5. Each team took a few more shots, but nothing else would go. American drove the mile back to their campus having defeated their neighbor for the second year in a row.
“We’ve struggled in the third quarter for these last few games. Our focus for GW was coming out of halftime and really posting a strong third quarter, and obviously that transitioned into the fourth,” head coach Lindsay Teeters said.
Following this game, the Eagles defeated UMBC at home on Feb. 24. They next take the field against George Mason on Feb. 29 at 2 p.m.
This article was edited by Delaney Hoke and Abigail Pritchard. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Olivia Citarella and Liah Argiropoulos.
