The American University women's lacrosse team held a two-goal lead in the second half at Navy, but was unable to hang on down the stretch, falling 15-14 Wednesday afternoon in Annapolis, Md.

American (5-8, 3-2 PL) got on the scoreboard first on an Emily Stankiewicz goal before Navy (13-2, 4-0 PL) responded with three straight scores to take a 3-1 lead at the 25:59 to play in the opening half. The Eagles fired right back with four consecutive goals by Amanda Makoid, Chiara Speziale, Kimberly Collins and another by Makoid to give AU a 5-3 advantage midway through the first period.

But the Midshipmen countered with a four-goal run of their own to regain a 7-5 lead until Emily Burton cut the Navy margin in half. Burton's goal was the first of another four-goal streak for the Eagles, as Speziale, Samantha Marshall and Burton found the back of the net, giving AU a 9-7 advantage at the 11:57 mark of the first half.

After Navy trimmed AU's lead to 9-8, Makoid scored her third goal of the half to make the score 10-8 in favor of the Eagles. American added another late first half goal off the stick of Lauren Schoenberger, as AU took an 11-10 lead into halftime.

The scoring slowed down in the second half, as the only score in the first 10 minutes was a Navy strike to knot the score at 11. Schoenberger eventually found the rhythm for the Eagles, converting back-to-back strikes in a 56-second span to give AU a 13-11 lead with 19:03 remaining in the game.

Navy, however, put together another four-goal spurt over the next 12-plus minutes to take a 15-13 advantage at the 7:46 mark. The Eagles fought hard to cut into the Navy lead, although were unable to get on the scoreboard until Schoenberger converted her fourth goal of the game with 13 seconds to play. Navy was able to run off the final seconds and hang onto the 15-14 home victory.

Schoenberger led AU with five points on four goals and an assist. Makoid scored three times for the Eagles, while Burton and Speziale registered two goals apiece. Brit Ferguson paced the Eagles with seven draw controls, while Stankiewicz recorded four draw controls and three groundballs. Frankie Solomon played all 60 minutes in goal for American, registering 10 saves.

The Midshipmen were led by a balanced scoring attack, as five players recorded three goals apiece.

The Eagles will return to action on Saturday, April 10, in a non-league tilt at Virginia Tech. Game time from Blacksburg,  Va., is slated for 1 p.m.