The American University lacrosse team (1-2) fell to #7 Loyola Maryland (2-0) 15-5 on Feb. 16 in their Patriot League opener at Jacobs Field.
The Eagles came into the game with a split record, losing to Georgetown at home and winning against Howard on the road, while the nationally ranked Greyhounds came into the matchup off the back of a ranked home win against the University of Florida.
Barely three minutes into the game, senior midfielder Hannah Spease opened the scoring for the Eagles. Four minutes later, and against the run of play, junior midfielder Chase Boyle tied the game for Loyola with a goal of her own. For the rest of the quarter, AU and Loyola traded shots and turnovers in a highly defensive start to the game. Junior goalkeeper Caleigh Forti made three crucial saves to keep the Greyhounds from scoring again.
The second quarter saw a significant pickup in the first five minutes, with Loyola scoring 5 goals unanswered by American. In total, Loyola put in 7 goals in the quarter. AU managed to score through junior attacker Alyssa Apuzzo with 2 minutes and 54 seconds to go in the half. At halftime, the score was 8-2. Loyola was dominating with 16 shots on goal compared to AU’s 4.
Head coach Lindsay Teeters acknowledged her team’s struggle with Loyola’s high scoring. “I think we were able to execute our game plan for about one quarter,” Teeters said. “They started to score and I think we couldn’t find the momentum to get back.”
In the second half, the pattern remained as Loyola managed to find offensive opportunities with ease. Loyola once again scored 5 unanswered goals to begin the third quarter. However, AU’s junior attacker Maddy Spratt scored a free position shot with about 5 minutes to go in the third quarter. American struggled on draws, not winning a single one in both the third and fourth quarters.
In the fourth quarter, with Loyola making substitutions and any chance of a miraculous comeback waning, AU continued to struggle on the offensive end. Meanwhile, Loyola brought their scoring total against the Eagles up to 15. In the end, AU added two consolation goals through freshman attacker Jasmine Connor and junior attacker Becca Frank making the final score 15-5.
“We need to work on our offensive flow,” Teeters said. “Right now we’re relying on one or two people to just work and there’s seven of them out there. So it’s really gonna be important for us moving forward that we have a more cohesive offensive unit”.
Next, The Eagles will take on rival George Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. at their Mount Vernon Campus.
This article was edited by Penelope Jennings, Delaney Hoke and Abigail Pritchard. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Ariana Kavoossi.
