The American University lacrosse team (3-2) beat the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (3-2) 14-11 on Feb. 24 at Jacobs Field.
American started off strong when UMBC quickly turned over the ball, putting American on offensive. After American junior goalkeeper Caleigh Forti saved a shot on goal, AU turned the ball over. Following a few seconds on offense, sophomore midfielder Kellie Linehan scored the first goal of the game, assisted by sophomore midfielder Reagan Murdoch.
A draw control by UMBC put American on defense, and UMBC scored their first goal with 11:29 seconds left in the first quarter. American and UMBC went back and forth for a few minutes until the referee called a foul on UMBC, which gave American a free position shot, the shot was not successful but American received another free shot position after UMBC this time, Linehan put up her second goal.
Before the end of the first quarter, UMBC came back with two goals and Murdoch tied the game in the last 14 seconds, setting the score at 3-3.
American started the second quarter off on defense but switched to offense after a ground ball pickup and clear attempt by junior defender Jenna Walls. UMBC turned the ball over and after some great defense from American, UMBC struggled to score their first goal of the quarter. UMBC scored with 12:25 left in the quarter.
With two minutes left and AU down 4-3, senior defender Jordan Mitchell picked up a ground ball and sent a clear across the field, shortly followed by a goal by junior attacker Maddy Spratt, which brought the score to 4-4.
After a UMBC foul, American received a free position shot, an unsuccessful clear attempt by UMBC put American on defense, Forti saved two shots, one being a close left wing shot.
Just seconds later, Murdoch scored her third goal of the game after a ground ball and clear attempt by junior defender Darby Sherrod. American went on to score another goal by junior attacker Alyssa Apuzzo, assisted by freshman attacker Jasmine Connor.
With five minutes left before halftime, UMBC scored two goals, followed by an American goal by Connor. In the last 45 seconds, UMBC tied the game 7-7.
American kept UMBC on their toes in the third quarter. After another ground pickup and clear attempt by Sherrod, senior midfielder Hannah Spease scored two goals within 45 seconds of each other.
With five minutes left in the quarter, Murdough put up another goal assisted by junior attacker Becca Frank. The third quarter had a lot of back and forth, but American played better defense than UMBC. The quarter ended with a goal by UMBC in the last five minutes, ending the quarter with American up 10-8.
The fourth quarter started off with American on the defense after UMBC won the draw control, but the ball was quickly turned over after a ground ball pickup and clear attempt by Walls. Immediately after a green card and two fouls on UMBC lead to Murdoch scoring another goal off of a free position attempt.
After some back and forth, Murdoch put up another goal assisted by Apuzzo. Three more fouls by UMBC led to a free-position shot goal by Frank. UMBC followed with two goals, one off a free position shot.
With 2:36 left, Spratt scored American’s last goal. Right before the end of the game, UMBC put up one more goal, but it was too late to catch up to American. The game ended with American winning 14-11.
“Our offense has been struggling a little bit with finding a rhythm and finding a connection and today they did a great job of working together as a unit and really finding all sorts of different looks and creating a different and a fresh offensive,” head coach Lindsay Teeters said.
“They’re a great team, it's always a super fun battle, they’re super aggressive,” Murdoch said. “That was our focus this game, and I think we just really connected; we looked for each other, we played really hard for each other, and it worked out.”
Following this game, American defeated George Mason 11-10 on Feb. 29. They next take the field at Lehigh on March 9 at 12 p.m.
This article was edited by Penelope Jennings, Delaney Hoke and Abigail Pritchard. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Liah Argiropoulos.
