Oct. 31, 2008

Box Score

EASTON, Pa. - The American University field hockey team took a 6-0 decision over Patriot League opponent Lehigh on Friday night. The game took place on the Lafayette campus as the Mountain Hawks facility is under construction.

Irene Schickhardt kicked off the scoring for the Eagles, tallying her team-leading 14th goal of the season just 3:10 into the contest on an unassisted shot that beat Mountain Hawk goalie Lilia Stefaniwsky. Schickhardt recovered her own shot that caromed off the post and finished the rebound.

American (10-6, 5-0 PL) took a 2-0 lead a minute and 49 seconds later when Schickhardt dished off a pass to Ann van Erp for the goal. Kirsten Gebhart made it 3-0 at 8:59 when she batted a loose ball out of the air for her second goal of the season. The Eagles would take the three goal lead into the intermission, but were just getting started offensively.

At 41:48, Savannah Graybill got on the scoresheet, tallying her fifth goal of the season. Natalie Ellenberger added an unassisted goal at 61:50 to makie it 5-0 and Alison Baron wrapped up the scoring with her first career goal at 67:12 courtesy of an Anne-Meike De Wiljes assist.

American had a huge advantage in shots (28-4), especially in the second half where they took 19 and held Lehigh (3-17, 0-5 PL) to none.

"We played a really strong game offensively," said AU assistant coach Nate Franks. "We played well on both sides of the field and are very happy to get a shutout on the defensive end against a strong Lehigh team."

Alyssa Poorman got the win for the Eagles, making two saves in 59:30 before making way to Hannah Weitzman for the final 10:30. Stefaniwsky made four saves in the first half before being replaced by Jessica Miller, who stopped 12 shots in the second half.

Christine Fingerhuth had an active day for the AU offense, despite not scoring a goal. Fingerhuth took seven shots, all on goal in the contest.

American will wrap up its regular season on Sunday at Princeton at 2 p.m. before heading into the post-season. The Eagles will host the Patriot League Tournament at Jacobs Field Nov. 7-8.