The American University women's soccer team faced No. 13 Virginia Tech on Sunday afternoon at Reeves Field, and despite a strong defensive effort by the Eagles, came up on the short end of a 3-0 decision.

"I thought today we fought really hard and we defended very well, particularly in the first half," said Head Coach Dave Bucciero. "Virginia Tech is a very athletic team and hard to match up against. I thought we battled hard and I thought the last 20 minutes our players showed a lot of guts because they could have folded it in and given up, but they fought as hard as they could and did everything they could to get a goal back."

Virginia Tech (6-0-0) found the back of the net in the 19th minute of the game to take a 1-0 lead in the first half. Ashley Meier had a breakaway down the right side of the field and sent a rocket past Charlene Belanger for the tally.

American (1-4-1) was able to hold the Hokies scoreless through the rest of the half, with Belanger and the Eagles' defense coming up with stops to keep the team within striking distance.

But the Hokies were able to find the back of the net five minutes into the second half. Katie Yensen sent a shot into the top left corner of the net for the 2-0 lead.

American went on the attack after the goal, but the shot from Jasmine Mohandesi was saved by goalkeeper Dayle Colpitts to maintain the 2-0 advantage. Virginia Tech was able to capitalize on a penalty kick in the 59th minute, with Shannon Mayrose scoring for the 3-0 lead. The Eagles had an opportunity in the 74th minute but Kristin Piorun's shot went just wide.  

Virginia Tech outshot American 21-3 in the game and held an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks. Belanger recorded six saves for the Eagles.

American returns to Reeves Field next weekend when it hosts Virginia Commonwealth on Friday, September 7 at 2 p.m. and Loyola (Md.) on Sunday, September 9 at 12 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on Eagles Vision TV.