The American University field hockey team faced an early deficit in its Patriot League opener against No. 14 Lafayette and couldn't complete a comeback as it fell, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon.

Lafayette (8-1, 1-0) tallied three consecutive goals to open the match. Deanna DiCroce scored just under four minutes in, slipping it into the left corner of the net off a pass from Kelsey Mead. Haley Keenan scored the second at the 7:17 mark with the assist from DiCroce. DiCroce added her second of the day to give the Leopards a 3-0 advantage, settling a pass from Emily Valeo from the right sideline and putting it past Ashley Dalisera from inside the circle.

American (3-7, 0-1) came out of the intermission with back-to-back shots before Carly Atchison added the goal for the Eagles to cut the deficit to 3-1. Atchison received a pass from Alex McMackin on the left side of the cage after inserting the penalty corner and slipped it past goalkeeper Jessica Deutsch for the score.

The Leopards were able to answer in the 59th minute when Keenan tallied her second of the day, tapping in the rebound after a save from Stephanie Burry as Maria Machalick added the assist for the 4-1 win.

Lafayette held a 9-6 advantage in shots in the game while the Eagles had a 4-3 edge in penalty corners. Dalisera had two saves for American while Burry added one.

American will return to Jacobs Field tomorrow, Sunday, September 30 when it hosts Monmouth at 12:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on Eagles Vision TV.