September 20, 2003

EASTON, Pa. - Javiera Villagra (Santiago, Chile/Santiago College) blew past one defender, and then beat the goalie to the right, to score the gamewinner for the Eagles. The goal gave AU a 2-1 overtime victory, lifted them to a 5-1 overall record, and 1-0 in Patriot League play. The win was significant for a couple of reasons. Lafayette entered the contest ranked 23rd nationally in the STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. AU was 27th. A second reason is AU had never defeated Lafayette before, entering the game with a series record of 0-4-0. Freshman Kaitlin De Troia (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex Regional) scored the first goal of her AU career, and of the game, when she collected a rebound and put it past Casey Devlin. The score came with 8:41 left in the half, and it would prove to be the only score of the half. The inevitable finally happened nearly 50 minutes into the game. The Leopards scored, snapping Laura Miller's (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) streak of 208 minutes without giving up a goal. It happened when senior Jennifer Stone scored her 11th of the season. Meredith Hahn and Kathleen Gallagher each assisted on the goal. For the game, Miller finished with 13 saves and faced 18 Lafayette shots. Lafayette's Devlin garnered 15 saves and also faced 18 shots. Lafayette had the edge in penalty corners (14-10), and the two teams each had 18 shots on goal. Overall, AU dominated the first half, while the Leopards got the better of the play in the second half. American is now 5-1-0 and will go across town this week for a contest with Georgetown on Wednesday, September 24 at 3:30 p.m. Game Summary
Shots: American 18; Lafayette 18
Saves: American 13; Lafayette 15
Corners: American 10; Lafayette 14