The No. 18 American University field hockey team clinched its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance, advancing to the round of 16 with a 3-1 win over Quinnipiac on Wednesday afternoon at Jacobs Field.

"We didn't want to set our sights just on winning the conference championship, which was a huge, critical goal for us, but we wanted to make sure that we kept running into the play-offs and the round of 16," said Head Coach Steve Jennings. "We were able to take care of business today. It was a tough game against a great team and I don't know if we were able to get our rhythm but we were able to do enough to get by."

Bree Mercado nearly put American (15-5) on the board in the seventh minute, notching a pair of shots that were stopped by the Bobcats. The Eagles converted on its next chance in the 24th minute after earning its first penalty corner of the game. Carly Atchison inserted and Victoria De Kepper trapped it at the top of the circle. Shelly Montgomery wound up to take the shot and rocketed the ball past Megan Conaboy to give American the 1-0 lead.

Quinnipiac (14-7) attempted to tie it up four minutes later, but Ashley Dalisera came up with the save on Meghan McCullough's try. The Eagles had another chance to close out the first half after earning its second corner with Montgomery's shot being blocked by the Bobcats' defense and Rebecca Treharne's second chance opportunity flying over the crossbar.

American went up 2-0 three minutes into the second half. Alex McMackin drove through the Quinnipiac defense after receiving the feed from Jaclyn Anspach and sent a shot past Conaboy into the left corner of the cage. The Bobcats switched the field and tallied consecutive shots to earn its first penalty corner of the game. Jennalise Taylor's shot went wide but Quinnipiac earned another and was able to convert with a goal by Jess Rusin in the 46th minute.

The Eagles were able to retake its two-goal lead under two minutes later on another penalty corner as Grace Wilson found the back of the net for the 3-1 advantage. American was able to hold off a rally down the stretch for the win and the bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Eagles held a 9-7 edge in shots and 4-2 advantage in penalty corners. Dalisera made four saves as the starting goalkeeper.

American will face No. 1 Maryland in College Park, Md. on Saturday, November 16 at 11:30 a.m.