WASHINGTON – Using a second-half scoring flurry, the American University field hockey team earned a 4-3 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the Eagles improved to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League, while the Crusaders dropped to 5-5 overall and 1-1 in the league.

The Eagles were quick to get on the board in the first half, as junior Natalie Konerth found the back of the net less than four minutes into the contest. However, defense took over for the remainder of the half, and American went into the intermission with a 1-0 advantage.

Early in the second half, Holy Cross was able to score the equalizer as Maureen Connolly got past the AU defense to put the Crusaders on the board.

Looking to regain the lead, American had several scoring opportunities on a string of penalty corners. With 15:12 on the clock, senior Jess Davis was able to capitalize on one of those opportunities, tipping the ball in off a pass from Konerth.

Senior Katie Lonsky added to the Eagles' lead at the 12:52 mark and less than 30 seconds later, sophomore Sophia Crawshay scored on a feed from senior Isabel Terwindt, giving American a 4-1 advantage.

After the scoring run by the Eagles, Holy Cross took a timeout to regroup and responded with a quick goal on their next possession. The Crusaders, who pulled their goalie with 2:45 to play, added another score in the final minutes, but American was able to hold off the Holy Cross rally late in the game.

"I thought it was tight in the first half," said American head coach Steve Jennings. "It was unfortunate that we conceded that goal early in the second half. We had a lot of pressure, but Holy Cross was able to hold that off and get an equalizer.

"We then got on a really hot run and played some great hockey to get three goals up. To their credit, they were able to come back and make it a little bit closer than we wanted."

The Eagles are back in action tomorrow for a non-conference contest versus Temple. The match is slated to begin at 2 p.m. at Jacobs Field.

"We know Temple's a great team," said Jennings. "We really want to have a great weekend, so we know that we have to keep working on our passing game and have to step up big on the defensive end and correct some things that got exposed today."