The No. 14 American University field hockey team began defense of its seventh consecutive Patriot League Championship with a resounding victory on Saturday, as seven different Eagles scored en route to a 9-0 win over Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa.

Lehigh (2-9, 0-1) earned the first scoring opportunity of the match and nearly took the lead on a Caitlin Donnelly shot in the third minute. Donnelly would be denied, however, as Tatum Dyer made a defensive save to preserve the 0-0 tie. American (8-2, 1-0) answered back at the other end of the turf moments later and put the first tally on the board in the 11th minute. The goal was scored by Melissa Casale off a penalty corner, as she deflected a pass from Gina Hofmann past Lehigh's Jessica Miller into the cage.  

American kept the pressure on the Mountain Hawks as the half continued, with Hofmann converting on a direct shot from the top of the shell off a penalty corner in the 18th minute to push the lead to 2-0.  Hofmann's goal started a barrage of offense for the Eagles, as they would score four times in a 6:58 span to push the lead to 5-0.

Shelly Montgomery notched her team-leading sixth goal of the 2010 season when she made the score 3-0 at the 19:48 mark unassisted. Montgomery was followed by an Anne van Erp tally as the senior rocketed a ball in from the right side on another corner to stretch the lead to 4-0.  Freshman Lotte van de Mierop would cap American's first half scoring outburst, picking up her fifth goal of the year when she cleaned up a rebound off an Eagle penalty corner, sending the match into the halftime intermission with a 5-0 score.

The Eagles pressed on in the second half as reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Christine Fingerhuth continued the assault, knocking in a sensational goal past Lila Stefaniwski, Lehigh's second goalkeeper of the afternoon, to increase the American lead to 6-0.  Jenn Bradley then found the back of a cage on a direct shot on an American corner for her first goal of the season to make it 7-0 in the 58th minute. It would be only 23 seconds until Casale garnered her second tally of the afternoon, as she found the ball free out of a scramble in front of the cage to push the margin to 8-0. Fingerhuth put the finishing touch on the victory, scoring her second of the day and sixth of the year, to put the score at the final margin of 9-0.

"The team did a great job of finishing today and it was important to start out league play with a strong performance," Head Coach Steve Jennings commented. "We have been working hard to continue improving week by week, game by game, and I think we definitely made some extra strides in this match.  We are also committed to being a top-10 team and tomorrow will provide us with an excellent test."

Fingerhuth's two goals tie her with Montgomery for the team lead, as both have now recorded six goals on the season.  In addition to her goal, Hoffman added two assists to her 2010 totals, increasing her team leading total to nine.  Kirstin Gebhart and Natalie Ellenberger chipped in three assists each, giving them eight and seven helpers on the year, respectively.  Shay Smith also tallied an assist on Casale's second goal of the afternoon.  The total of nine assists for the Eagles sets a new team record, eclipsing the previous mark of eight, set on October 24, 1995 in a win over Virginia Commonwealth. 

American outshot Lehigh 30-3 for the day, and held a 15-1 edge in penalty corners.  Hannah Weitzman and Stephanie Burry combined for the shutout, with Weitzman picking up the victory to improve to 8-2 on the year.

American's nine goals mark the team's highest scoring outburst since recording a 9-1 victory over Colgate on October 29, 2005. The nine-goal margin of victory, meanwhile, is the largest in Steve Jennings' 12 years at the helm of the program. It is also the program's largest margin of victory since a 12-0 win over Virginia Commonwealth on November 8, 1996. The seven individual goal scorers was the most for the Eagles since performing the same feat in an 8-1 win over Towson on September 12, 2009.

The Eagles return to action tomorrow, Sunday, October 3, at 1:00 p.m. when they travel to Princeton to take on the No. 4 Tigers. Live video and stats will be available during the match by clicking here.