DAVIS, Calif. – In the fading light of a West Coast sunset, the American lacrosse team (3-3) faced off against the Aggies of UC Davis (4-1) and despite a 7-2 scoring run in the third quarter and five goals total from Kellie Linehan, the Eagles fell 13-14.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Linehan finished the night with five goals from six shots. The freshman also had an assist and a ground ball added to her stat sheet line. Linehan now has 12 goals on the season.
• Junior midfielder Hannah Spease had a hat-trick night. She also picked up five ground balls, had five draw controls, and had a caused turnover.
• Maddy Spratt scored two goals, pushing her to a team-leading 15 goals on the season. Along with Ashley Smith, Spratt had three draw controls. Freshmen Reagan Murdoch and Annabelle Jackson scored one goal apiece, Jackson now has 13 goals on the season. Senior Emma Hare also claimed a goal for herself in the contest.
• Keeper Mary Alice Collins ended the contest with nine saves against the 23 shots the Aggies put on goal.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Aggies struck first, scoring the first goal of the game with 11:56 to play in the opening frame. They'd go on to score another with 5:27 to go in the first. A third goal from UC Davis came from a free position shot. The Eagles offense had forced the Aggie keeper to make three big-time saves but couldn't find the back of the goal in the opening 15 minutes.
• The Eagles would go down five goals to nil before scoring one of their own, with 11:02 left to play before the break. It would be Jackson that broke through the UCD defense. The freshman scored her 13th goal of the season to put the Eagles back in it.
• Spratt would score her team-leading 14th goal on the season, with an assist from Ashley Smith, to double the score line and the Eagles were down four, trailing 2-6, with 6:58 before the half.
• It would be back-to-back goals for the Eagles before the break when  Spease joined in on the scoring, notching her 10th of the season to pull American up within three down, 3-6, with 3:58 left in the frame.
• The final word of the first half would be from the Eagles, who took a free position shot from Spratt with five seconds left to finish the first thirty minutes of play 4-7, with work to do when they came back out.
• Just 45 seconds into the second half, Linehan closed the gap even more with a solo goal and bringing the score to 5-7; the Eagles down just two to the Aggies.
• Spease, with her second of the night, would put American within one. The junior's goal came right after a free position shot by Hare was saved by the Aggies' keeper. With just under ten minutes remaining in the third frame, Linehan would tie the contest at 7-all with a free position shot. The Eagles had gone on a 4-nil run from the end of the second half to tie it up.
• The Aggies didn't let the 7-all tie last long, scoring their first goal in over ten minutes of play to retake the lead, 7-8. Senior Hare though, would put the Eagles back level a minute later with an assist from Grace Brennan.
• Spease would earn a hat trick with three minutes left in the third frame when she found the back of the goal again before Linehan would get herself a hat trick with 1:20 left in the third period when her goal gave the Eagles their first lead of the game, up 10-9.
• Only five seconds would remain in the third when Linehan would grab her fourth goal of the night. Just like that, the Eagles were up 11-9 heading into the final 15-minute frame.
• Linehan would take her fifth goal with just under 10 minutes left to play in the game and fellow freshman Murdoch would join in on the scoring fun to give the Eagles a 13-12 lead before the Aggies scored two unanswered to charge ahead 13-14 with 4:37 left to play.
• The Aggies would hold onto this lead through the end of the game. The Eagles went on a 7-2 run in the third to take the lead over the Aggies before the hosts fired back. But, in the fourth, UC Davis outscored the Eagles 5-2 in the final frame to claim the victory, 13-14.

UP NEXT
The Eagles are staying on the West Coast to face off with California on Sunday, March 12 at 3 p.m. EST, noon local time. After that, American will be back at Jacobs Complex to open Patriot League play against Lafayette on March 18 at 1 p.m.

KEEP UP WITH US
For the latest on American University lacrosse, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@au_lacrosse) and Instagram (@au_wlax).