The American University lacrosse team defeated Davidson, 12-6, on Saturday to open the regular season. Emily Burton, Emily Maher and Lauren Schoenberger all recorded hat tricks in the win.

American (1-0) took the quick 4-0 lead over Davidson (0-1) with a pair of goals from E. Maher as Burton and Schoenberger each added one. Davidson's Emily Cooke cut the Eagles' lead to 4-1 with 14:03 remaining in the first but back-to-back goals from Burton gave American the 6-1 advantage.

Davidson ended the half with a goal from Ann Fucigna with just 13 seconds remaining to cut American's lead to 6-2 and close out the first.

The Wildcats opened the second half on another goal from Cooke to cut American's lead to three, but the Eagles scored six straight goals with Bernadette Maher capping off the run for the 12-3 lead with 7:31 left to play.

Davidson ended the game with three straight goals of their own to put the final score at 12-6.

Cooke, Fucigna and Erin Keitel led the Wildcats with two goals apiece.

Kimberly Collins posted two goals for the Eagles as B. Maher added one. Schoenberger added a team-high three assists. Emily Stankiewicz recorded three ground balls while E. Maher posted two caused turnovers. Kaska Komosinski tallied six saves in the win. American outshot Davidson 33-16 in the game.

American will return to action next Saturday, February 25 when they host Columbia at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on Eagles Vision TV.