The No. 15 American University field hockey team dominated play on Sunday against No. 13 Louisville but came up on the short end of a 2-1 score in Harrisonburg, Va. The Eagles held an 18-8 advantage in shots and an 18-4 margin in corners against the Cardinals but were unable to find the back of the cage for much of the afternoon.

American (1-2) earned its first penalty corner just over one minute into the action but shots by Shelly Montgomery and Tatum Dyer were blocked by the Louisville (3-1) defense. A second penalty corner in the third minute was also unsuccessful as Dyer put the shot wide of its mark. The Cardinals responded quickly at the other end with two shots of their own, the first of which was blocked while the second was saved by goalkeeper Hannah Weitzman. A resulting Louisville corner was also blocked by the American defense, putting an end to a wild opening five minutes.

Lotte van de Mierop put the Eagles on top 1-0 in the 13^th minute as she made a diving play on a loose ball in the middle of the circle. Jenn Bradley played the ball into the shell where van de Mierop was able to beat Louisville goalkeeper Erin Conrad with the dive as Conrad charged out of the cage. Van de Mierop's shot to the left post marked the first goal of her career.

The lead, however, did not last as Karah Nall converted Louisville's second corner of the afternoon in the 17^th minute. The Cardinals also had scoring chances in the 23^rd and 29^th minutes but American's defense stood tall with a save and blocked shot, negating the opportunities.

The Eagles earned two corners before the end of the half and were unsuccessful in their conversion, sending the teams into the intermission tied 1-1.

American dominated play in the second half beginning with a Melissa Casale shot in the 37^th minute which was just wide of the cage. The Eagles also earned two corners in the 43^rd minute but Christine Fingerhuth's shot on the first was blocked and Gina Hofmann's attempt on the second was sent wide.

While nearly all of the action was taking place in American's offensive third, Louisville was able to use its counterattack to score what proved to be the game-winning goal off the stick of Hayley Turner in the 46^th minute on an end-to-end rush.

The goal proved to be Louisville's lone scoring opportunity of the half as American did not allow another Cardinal shot through regulation. As the Eagles' defense shut down the Louisville attack, American resumed its pressure on the Cardinals' cage and over the final 21 minutes of play earned 12 more corner opportunities and took nine shots. Despite the lopsided statistics, the Louisville defense was able to weather the storm and shut down American's offense to preserve the 2-1 victory.

"We played some really great hockey today in a number of areas," Associate Head Coach Sarah Thorn Krombolz commented. "We are really proud of our ability to press the well and come up with offense on the counter attack but we obviously need to do a better job with our corner execution in the future. We feel as though we should have won this match but we need to give credit to the corner defense of Louisville."

American held an 18-8 advantage in shots over Louisville for the match, including a 12-1 margin in the second half. The Eagles also outcornered Louisville 18-4.

Van de Mierop's goal came off her only shot of the afternoon and was the first of her career. Hofmann, meanwhile, led the team with six shots on the day while Dyer and Fingerhuth each attempted three. Weitzman was credited with two saves in the cage.

American will return to action with a pair of matches next weekend in the Terrapin Invitational. The Eagles will first take to the turf on Saturday, September 11, against Rutgers at 1:00 p.m. before facing New Hampshire on Sunday, September 12, at 12:00 p.m. Both matches will be played in College Park, Md.