The No. 20 American University field hockey team used a flurry of second half goals to put away New Hampshire on Sunday en route to a 5-2 win at the Terrapin Invitational in College Park, Md.  The Eagles broke open the match with three goals in a four minute and 43 second span early in the second half to secure the victory.

American (3-2) struck first in the ninth minute when Anne van Erp took the ball to the left side of the circle and rocketed a shot towards the cage. Melissa Casale was at the right post to deflect van Erp's shot for her second goal of the year, giving American the 1-0 advantage.  New Hampshire would answer back 43 seconds later with a Haley Rausch tally, tying the match, 1-1.

The match would remain tied until Kirstin Gebhart scored her first goal of the year, knocking it home from the top of the circle on a penalty corner.  Gebhart stopped the insert from Natalie Ellenberger and proceeded to pass the ball to herself before converting past Wildcat goalkeeper Katherine Nagengast.  Gebhart's score, coupled with strong play between the pipes by Hannah Weitzman, who recorded four first half saves, gave American a 2-1 lead heading into the intermission.

After the teams returned from halftime, the Eagles put the match away with three successive goals.  Constanza Palma started the barrage in the 48th minute when she converted American's second penalty corner of the afternoon.  Gebhart played the corner to the left of the circle where van Erp took a shot at the cage which was deflected by Palma in front, giving American the 3-2 lead.

The Eagles doubled their lead just one minute and 14 seconds later as Lotte van de Mierop scored her second goal of the season.  Alex McMackin played the ball into the circle where she waffled a pass through the New Hampshire defense to van de Mierop who was waiting at the left post. Van de Mierop went top shelf with her shot, beating the goalkeeper for a 4-1 American advantage.  The Eagles would score their fifth goal of the afternoon three minutes later when Christine Fingerhuth drove the ball into the right side of the circle and hit a sensational ball, finding Jaclyn Anspach at the far post for the deflection.  

Whitney Frates would add a late goal for New Hampshire to close the gap to 5-2, but that was as close as the Wildcats would get on the afternoon.  American was able to stop a Wildcat penalty corner as time expired to preserve the 5-2 win.   

"I was very happy with our team's energy and performance today," Head Coach Steve Jennings commented. "We played some great hockey and got solid contribution throughout the lines. In the key moments of the game we were able to capitalize and take the momentum. It was nice to get two wins ths weekend andsee the application of themes from our past week of training."

In addition to the five goals, American received two assists from van Erp and one from Natalie Ellenberger, giving both four assists on the year.  The goals from Palma and Anspach were the first in their collegiate careers.

Weitzman finished the afternoon for American with four saves to record her third victory of the year.  Stephanie Burry came on in goal for the final 14:19 making her the first appearance of her Eagle career.

American returns to action this Saturday, September 18, as the Eagles play host to Massachusetts at Jacobs Field.  Gametime is set for 12 noon. Fans unable to attend the game can catch all of the action live through AUeagles.com via a subscription to Eagles Vision TV. Eagles Vision TV will broadcast all eight of American's home field hockey games this season, bringing the action from Jacobs Field to your computer.  Year-long subscriptions are $49.95 and allow you to watch every live broadcast produced by Eagles Vision TV and access to the Eagles Vision TV archives to watch past games on-demand. Single-game subscriptions, which are only available during live broadcasts, are also available for $5.95 per event.