Game 6 ·  American (3-2, 0-0 PL) vs. Lafayette (5-1, 0-0 PL)
Saturday, September 18  ·  11 a.m.  ·  Washington, D.C. (Jacobs Complex)
All-Time Record: American leads, 23-8
Broadcast Talent: Marc Serber (pxp)

WASHINGTON - The American University field hockey team (3-2) will make its long-awaited home and Patriot League debut on Saturday as the Eagles welcome Lafayette (5-1) to Jacobs Complex for an 11 a.m. match. AU opened the season with five games on the road during one of its toughest nonconference slates in recent years which included four ranked opponents.

MASK POLICY AT AU ATHLETICS EVENTS 

• Individuals are required to wear masks to all American University athletics events, per current AU guidelines.  
• We also encourage social distancing at all of our venues.  

SERIES HISTORY

• This will be the 32nd game in the long history between the Eagles and Leopards.
• The series opened in 1983 with a 1-0 Lafayette win, but the two teams didn't meet again until AU joined the Patriot League in 2001. Since then, American has dominated the series, winning 23 of the last 27 meetings, including four Patriot League Championships. 
• AU is on a four-game win streak against the Leopards after sweeping the last two seasons, including a pair of double-overtime victories during the unique 2021 spring season.

LAST TIME OUT

• American closed a thrilling two-win weekend at the Terrapin Invitational with a double-overtime victory over No. 21 UMass on Sunday. 
• The Eagles played catch-up throughout regulation after the Minutewomen got on the board early in the first quarter. But goals from senior Noor Coenen and junior Julia Kraft kept AU alive and pushed the team into its third overtime of the season.
• Junior Charllene Boshoff, who put away the game-winner in the first overtime period of the year against No. 23 VCU, came away with a massive defensive save early in extra time as the two teams kept even through 70 minutes.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Bryn Underwood opened the second period of overtime with a pair of massive saves before Coenen slammed home the game-winner off the Eagles' eighth penalty corner of the day.
• The Eagles opened the Terrapin Invitational on Friday with a 2-1 win over Richmond behind goals from senior Aidan Rossman and junior Merel Dupont, who posted her second career goal and first game-winner in the 33rd minute.

SCOUTING THE LEOPARDS

• Lafayette enters the Saturday matinee with a 5-1 record on the season, including three consecutive wins against Indiana, 4-0, Yale, 2-1 (OT), and Quinnipiac, 2-0. The team's only loss of the season was against Ohio State on September 3, 4-3 in double-overtime.
•  Senior Audrey Sawers was the lone Leopard selected to the Patriot League Preseason All-League Team. She leads the team with a dozen points, including a team-high four assists, alongside classmate Molly McAndrew who has a team-high five goals after the first six games of the slate.
• Junior Felicitas Hannes is third on the squad with nine points off four goals and an assist.
• Senior Hailey Abbott has led Lafayette from the cage all season and has 15 saves and a .714 save percentage heading into conference play. She currently ranks 10th in Division I and leads the Patriot League with a 1.0 goals against average after also posting a league-high three shutouts against Hofstra, Indiana, and Quinnipiac. 
• Lafayette is led by head coach Jennifer Stone, who is in her ninth season at the helm of the program and holds a record of 54-68 (.443).

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

• American has already placed three players on the league's weekly award release, including senior Noor Coenen and sophomore Bryn Underwood who were selected as the Offensive Player and Goalkeeper of the Week, respectively, after helping the Eagles to a 2-0 weekend at Maryland.
• Junior Charllene Boshoff added her name to the first release of the season as the Defensive Player of the Week after scoring the game-winner against No. 23 VCU.

OVERTIME WARRIORS

• American has found itself in extra time in three games already this season and has come away with the win in two against No. 23 VCU (2-1) and No. 21 UMass (3-2).
• UMass was the first double-overtime of the season.
• Boshoff was the first to score a game-winner in extra time this season, after posting her first goal of the year in the 63rd minute against No. 23 VCU.
• Coenen added the second after 73 minutes of play against No. 21 UMass.
• The Eagles also pushed four of their six games in the 2021 spring season to extra time, including the Patriot League semifinal against Bucknell where they fell, 2-1, after double-overtime and a shootout.
• The 2017-18 season holds the record for most overtime periods with six, including three consecutive to end the year.

STILL CLIMBIN'

• Senior Noor Coenen added her name to the list of all-time greats in program history long ago. Now in her fifth season with the Eagles, she is continuing her climb through the AU record books.
• The Naarden, Netherlands, currently ranks fifth in program history for career points (119) and sixth for career goals (48). She is also only three assists from breaking into her third top-10 list, which would make her one of only six Eagles in program history to be listed in the top-10 for all three categories alongside Stacey Siu-Butt ('96), Irene Schickhardt ('08), Camila Infante ('06), Sage Asteak ('99), and Rafaela Rubas ('18).
• A two-time All-American, four-time All-Region, and two-time Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, Coenen opened the season with her third consecutive Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year nod. Already one of only three players in PL history to have won two Player of the Year awards and a Rookie of the Year, Coenen could set herself apart in both program and league history with a third-consecutive Offensive Player of the Year award.

PRESEASON HONORS

• Senior Georgia Davies joined Coenen on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team. 
• Davies is one of three major award winners returning for the Eagles this year. She was selected as the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year last season alongside Coenen and then-freshman goalkeeper Underwood who was the first AU player selected as Rookie of the Year since Coenen in 2018.
• The Eagles topped the preseason rankings for the 13th time since 2004, earning 96 points and 8 first-place votes to lead Bucknell, Boston University, Lafayette, Lehigh, Holy Cross, and Colgate.

KEY RETURNERS

• Senior Gaby de Kock also highlights the key returners this season for American, as she comes into her fifth year with an All-Region and All-Patriot League selection under her belt.
• AU returns all 11 starters from last season with de Kock, Coenen, Davies, Boshoff, Underwood, senior Aidan Rossman, junior Merel Dupont, senior Josie Formica, senior Maura Phelan, senior Hannah Moser, and junior Megan Hoffman.

NEW FACES

• The Eagles welcomed an exciting seven-player freshmen class this season, most of whom have already seen significant minutes so far this season. 
• Also joining the squad is junior goalkeeper Abbie Ortyl, who comes to AU from Merrimack College.

NEXT UP

• American will be back on the road for a neutral site game against LIU in Towson, Md., on Friday, September 24.
• The Eagles will return home for a three-game road stand, starting with assistant coach Anna Dessoye's alma mater, No. 7 Maryland, on Sunday, Sept. 26. A rematch of last season's Patriot League semifinal against Bucknell will follow on October 2, thehn assistant coach Kristin Matula's alma mater, No. 25 Michigan State, on Oct. 3.

For the latest on American University Field Hockey, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_FieldHockey) and Instagram (@aufieldhockey).