WASHINGTON – A resurgent second half sees the American University lacrosse team over George Washington University, 10-5, in a crosstown contest. The Eagles went on an 8-2 run in the second half to lock the game into the win column.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Junior Becca Frank topped the score sheet for the Eagles on the afternoon, tallying a three-goal hat trick to lead the charge.
• Alyssa Apuzzo and Reagan Murdoch each got two goals apiece, each finishing the afternoon with a brace.
• Hannah Spease, Annabelle Jackson, and Maddy Spratt each finished with a goal to the line. Spratt, along with Apuzzo, each also earned an assist.
• Junior goalkeeper Caleigh Forti had 11 saves from sixteen shots faced, working her way to a .688 save percentage. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Revolutionaries got on the board first, netting a goal in the third minute of play.
• The Eagles were able to get a goal back quickly through Spease who received the ball and immediately sent it into the goal as she got it, and it was 1-all between the programs with 10:48 left in the opening frame.
• Neither team could make anything happened offensively in the first after each found their opening goals. It became a game of defense, and through one quarter, the teams were still tied at 1 goal apiece.
• There was a lid on both goals, and for over 20 minutes of lacrosse, the teams were still deadlocked. Forti had six saves over the impasse while George Washington's Mia Caro had four.
• With 5:38 left to play before the halftime break, the Revolutionaries finally broke the stalemate and grabbed another goal, up 2-1.
• On the next possession, Spratt had a free position shot that was saved by Caro, but Murdoch got a free position shot moments later and didn't miss her mark. There were only 30 seconds between goals three and four of the game after the defensive showcase earlier in the contest.
• GW would retake the lead with 2:36 left in the half, not trailing at all after having score the first goal of the contest, despite the Eagles equalizing both times. The Revolutionaries led 3-2 at the break.
• A minute and a half into the third period, the Revs went up two goals, the first multi-goal lead of the entire game to make it a 4-2 lead over the Eagles.
• Apuzzo brought the Eagles back within one just over two minutes later with a driving run across the goal face. Two minutes later, Spratt got in on the scoring fun with a free position shot that had the teams level at 4-all with 9:04 left in the third quarter.
• The first lead of the day for the Eagles came at the 6:45 mark of the third when Frank, off an Apuzzo assist, sent the ball over her back and into the net past Caro. The Eagles were up 5-4.
• Back-to-back goals from Murdoch when she scored one minute after her first goal had the Eagles up 6-4, their first multi-goal lead on the afternoon with 5:43 to play in the third period.
• The Revolutionaries didn't let that two-goal lead last for long though, and they got one back with 2:23 to play in the third. The score line would hold, and the Eagles would be up one, 6-5, with one quarter to go.
• With 12:33 left in the game, Jackson got in on the scoring and gave the Eagles their two-goal cushion back, up 7-5. She was followed by goals from Apuzzo getting her brace, Murdoch, earning a hat trick, and Murdoch with a brace as well.
• The Eagles went on an 8-2 scoring run in the second half and led by 10-5 with 4:29 remaining in the contest. American would run out the clock and end up winning the contest, 10-5 for the crosstown rivalry victory.

NEXT UP
The squad will be at home this week, for a two-game stint, first hosting UMBC on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 12 pm and then George Mason on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 2 p.m. at Jacobs Complex.
 
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