The American University lacrosse team (3-1) defeated George Washington (0-4) in their March 1 game 16-5 with goals from eight different scorers.
American continued their offensive dominance from their last game from the very first whistle. Junior midfielder Lizzie De Guzman won the first draw control, allowing sophomore attacker Maddy Spratt to take the first shot of the game. GW goalkeeper Mia Caro made the save, but AU got on the board shortly after with a goal from freshman midfielder Kellie Linehan.
George Washington’s defense played solidly, but was not a match for the sheer number of shots taken by the Eagles. Junior midfielder Hannah Spease got through GW’s defense thanks to an assist from sophomore midfielder Becca Frank about five minutes later. GW finally put up a goal of their own, shrinking American’s lead to 1. Frank and freshman midfielder Reagan Murdoch scored in quick succession to add the Eagles’ third and fourth goals of the game. GW added a second goal to end the first quarter with a score of 4-2 Eagles.
Spratt, who scored three goals last game against Howard, kicked off the second quarter scoring for AU. Freshman attacker Rachel Kolton scored her first career goal just about a minute later, not letting GW touch the ball in between hers and Spratt’s goals. Following Kolton’s goal, George Washington took both a yellow card and an additional foul, giving senior attacker Emma Hare a man-up eight meter attempt. Hare scored, increasing American’s lead to 5.
GW called a timeout, but the Eagles were undeterred. De Guzman continued winning draw controls, allowing AU consistent possession and thus consistent scoring opportunities. Freshman attacker Annabelle Jackson scored next for American, her eighth of the season and AU’s eighth of the game. George Washington’s defense finally regained their touch, holding American goalless for five minutes and scoring another goal of their own. However, the unrelenting Eagles would not be slowed down for long, and Spease scored her second goal of the game. GW fell into some foul and yellow card trouble, and Spratt scored AU’s second man-up eight meter goal of the game with just five seconds left in the quarter.
De Guzman won yet another draw control to kick off the third quarter, allowing American to keep possession and draw a foul on George Washington. Kolton hammered home her second goal of the game, this time from the eight meter. GW tacked on another goal, but American was unfazed as Spease won the ensuing draw control and then promptly scored her third goal of the game. Frank finished off the quarter’s scoring with her second goal of the game off of an assist from Spratt.
For the second quarter in a row, American won the opening draw control and then scored on the same possession. Spease had the control, and Murdoch scored her second of the game to give AU the 10 goal lead. Junior goalkeeper Mary Alice Collins had a series of crucial saves to maintain the Eagles’ lead. The fourth quarter was much lower scoring than those before it, but it was not for lack of effort. Junior defender Jordan Mitchell was powerful in the backfield and had some critical sprints up the turf with the ball. George Washington took an unreleasable yellow card, allowing Hare to score her second goal of the game, both of which came while man-up. GW scored again to shrink the Eagles’ lead back to 10, but Spease responded right away with her fourth goal of the game to seal American’s win, 16-5.
This AU win was made possible by eight different goal scorers, six of whom had multi-goal performances. It was truly a full squad effort yet again as American’s whole lineup contributed goals, assists, draw controls, caused turnovers and saves. Coming into this matchup, AU had lost their last two games against GW.
“Well, as much as they were winless coming in this season, they were the same last year. They were 0-3 coming into our game last year,” said head coach Lindsay Teeters. “One of our main focuses is this idea that it doesn't matter what their record is. Every team is coming after you. I think we had a little revenge mentality, so our focus today was to really just make sure that we took care of business.”
The Eagles next take on the Mercer University Bears on Saturday, March 4 at 12 p.m. on Jacobs Field.
This article was edited by Delaney Hoke and Nina Heller. Copy editing done by Isabelle Kravis and Natasha LaChac.
