Led by a dominating defensive performance, the American University field hockey team defeated Georgetown Wednesday afternoon, 4-0, on Jacobs Field. The Eagles picked up their fourth shutout of the season with the win as the defensive unit blanked the Hoyas, allowing zero shots and zero penalty corners. Senior Savannah Graybill provided the spark offensively with two scores, moving her into seventh place on American's career goals list.

Graybill was quick to get on the board as she put American (8-6, 3-0) ahead 1-0 in the fourth minute. Defender Tatum Dyer began the scoring sequence as she drove the ball up the left sideline and sent a centering pass to an awaiting Graybill on the left side of the circle. The senior completed the play with a shot to the right post.

Anne-Meike de Wiljes tallied the Eagles second goal in the 11^th minute, sending a one-timer past Georgetown (1-16, 1-3) goalkeeper Clodagh Coghlan to the left post. She was assisted on the play by Rachel Carney who found an open de Wiljes on the top right of the circle from the left hand baseline.

American continued its attack on the Georgetown circle and in the 27^th minute was rewarded by a Kirstin Gebhart goal. Gebhart was set up by Shay Smith who dribbled the ball up the field and slipped a pass to the junior in the center of the circle. Gebhart did the rest from there, driving to the right of the circle through traffic and firing a low hard shot into the back of the cage on the far post. The Eagles defense, which played remarkably all day, shut out Georgetown for the remainder of the half, sending American into the intermission with a 3-0 lead.

The Eagles picked up in the second half where they left off in the first, continuously pressuring the Hoyas cage while playing shut-down defense in their own circle. American, however, failed to hit the back of the cage again until the 62^nd minute on Graybill's second score. Off a scramble on the left post, Graybill was able to come away from the pack with possession of the ball and took a low shot to the right post, putting the Eagles on top by the final margin of 4-0.

"I think we did a really nice job today. Georgetown is definitely a fighting team and fought through the whole game," Associate Head Coach Sarah Thorn Krombolz stated during her live postgame interview with Eagles Vision TV. "Everyone who stepped on the field today did a great job. It was pretty seamless through the rotation and we are proud of that."

For just the second time under Head Coach Steve Jennings, American's defense completely shut out its opponent, not allowing Georgetown to take a single shot or earn a single penalty corner for the entire game. The Eagles last accomplished this feat in 2000 against Stanford.

Graybill moved into seventh place on American's career goals list as her two tally's moved her career total to 37. The two-time All-Patriot League selection has totaled 83 points at American, ninth best all-time. For senior Alyssa Poorman, the victory was her 18^th career shutout which places her second all-time at American and fourth in the Patriot League record books.

The Eagles finished their day with a 22-0 advantage in shots, an 11-0 advantage in shots on goal and 10-0 advantage in penalty corners. Graybill led the team with six shots, four of which went on goal, while de Wiljes took five attempts with one going on goal. Christine Fingerhuth and Kelsey Davis each recorded three shots and one shot on goal.

American will return to action on Saturday, October 24, as the team heads to Easton, Pa., to face Lafayette at 12 p.m. The Eagles will look to improve to 4-0 in the Patriot League this season while also extending its current winning streak against Patriot League opponents to 47 straight.