BALTIMORE, Md. – The Eagles fought to the bitter end, with Rachel Kolton's goal coming in the last second of the game, but it wasn't enough to wrangle a win when the American University lacrosse team (6-4, 2-1 PL) took on the No. 9 team in the country, the Greyhounds of Loyola Maryland (8-2, 3-0 PL) on Wednesday evening.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Freshmen duo Kellie Linehan and Annabelle Jackson led for the Eagles with two goals apiece, each from three shots. Jackson also picked up a ground ball while Linehan had a draw control on the evening.
• Alyssa Apuzzo, Kolton, and Ashley Smith each had a goal, too. Apuzzo also notched an assist, as did Sadie Herman, while Hannah Spease had two assists.
• In draw controls, Spease had a pair while sophomore Maddy Spratt led the Eagles with three. Spratt also had a caused turnover to her name.
• Defensively, Lizzie De Guzman had two caused turnovers and junior defender Jordan Mitchell had one. Jenna Walls also had a pair of caused turnovers and two ground balls while Jane Reffelt had a caused turnover. Freshman defender Bliss Vernon also picked up two ground balls.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Greyhounds got on the board quickly, about a minute into the game, but just 30 seconds later Apuzzo rolled and weaved to get a clear shot at goal and sunk one in to even the game 1-all.
• It didn't take long though before Loyola added two more to their tally within a minute and a half to go up 3-1, until four minutes into the game when Jackson slammed one in from distance into the top corner of the goal and brought the Eagles back within a single possession, down 2-3.
• Loyola went on a run though, scoring four goals in a row before Becca Frank was sent off for five minutes with a yellow card and the Greyhounds then scored another on a woman-up goal to lead the Eagles 2-8, a score line that would hold through the remainder of the first period.
• Rakis already had three of her saves by the end of the first and the Greyhounds were called on a crease violation to keep the deficit at six.
• Linehan was the one that scored the third goal for the Eagles with an assist from Spease who lobbed the ball past a Greyhound defender to the freshman who maneuvered right and shot left to drill in the ball into the top left corner for a goal.
• Loyola got two more goals before Ashley Smith dove to the turf with her shot and scored a fourth goal for American, the Eagles down 4-11.
• Jackson got her second goal with a spectacular dodge and dive, but the Greyhounds ended up with four more, the Eagles trailing 5-15 at the halftime break.
• Scoring slowed down in the second period. To open the second half out of the break, Spease and Linehan again linked up for Spease's second assist and Linehan's second goal. Only one goal apiece went in for each team in the third, meaning the final frame started with the Eagles trailing 6-16 with 15 minutes left to play.
• The Greyhounds sent three more into the goal in the final frame to lead 6-19, until the final five seconds of the contest when Kolton earned a free-position shot, scoring on it to bring the final tally to 7-19 as the final buzzer rang out in Baltimore.

UP NEXT
The squad will then return home to Jacobs Complex in one weeks' time on Saturday, April 1 to take on Army at noon in what will be the commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the 2003 Patriot League Championship winning team.

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).