WASHINGTON – American University lacrosse fought through an evenly paced first half against visiting UMBC before taking the lead in the second to earn a 14-11 win in the non-conference match. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Sophomore Reagan Murdoch found the back of the net a season-high five times through the day, taking her total to 12 for the season. She also added an assist, draw control and a ground ball to her efforts.
• A trio of Eagles added two goals apiece throughout the game, courtesy of senior Hannah Spease, sophomore Kellie Linehan and junior Maddy Spratt. Linehan and Spease added five and two draw controls, respectively, while Spratt collected three ground balls, caused a turnover and added an assist.
• Another trio of Eagles added a goal apiece with junior Alyssa Apuzzo, freshman Jasmine Connor and junior Becca Frank scoring those. Apuzzo also added two assists in the win while Frank and Connor each recorded an assist.
• Junior Jenna Walls paced the Eagles' defensive efforts with three caused turnovers while adding three ground balls.
• Freshman Deirdre Brown and junior Darby Sherrod added to the defensive efforts with a pair of ground balls each while Brown also caused a turnover.
• Junior Caleigh Forti earned the win in goal for American with 14 saves.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• American's Linehan kicked off the scoring with a goal just under three minutes in with an assist from Murdoch. UMBC, however, was able to knot it up less than a minute later.
• Several minutes later, Linehan retook the lead for American with her second goal coming on a man-up free position shot attempt. UMBC, though, was once again able to tie the game up with a goal of its own three minutes later.
• Before the first quarter could come to a close, UMBC took the lead with 33 seconds remaining. Despite the limited time remaining in the frame, American's Murdoch was able to bring the Eagles even with her first goal of the day.
• Through the first quarter each side traded shots and goals with UMBC outpacing American 9-3 in shots on goal. However, American made the most of its shots by scoring on each shot on goal.
• UMBC was able to take the early 4-3 lead in the second frame with a goal two-and-a-half minutes in. That lead, though, was quickly contested and tied up as American's Spratt found the net for her first goal of the game with 9:11 remaining.
• After another four minutes, Murdoch found the net for her second goal of the day before Apuzzo scored another goal 44 seconds later with an assist from Connor to take a 6-4 lead.
• As quick as American was able to put some separation in the score, UMBC was able to time the game up in the next two minutes with a pair of scores.
• The Eagles' Connor found the net, though, with 2:25 remaining to retake the lead before UMBC was able to earn another score with less than a minute remaining in the half.
• Playing out similar to the first quarter, the second quarter was hotly contested as UMBC and American traded shots on goal with seven and five, respectively, while Forti staved off the Terriers with three saves.
• Neither side relented through the opening minutes of the third quarter before Spease was able to find the back of the net to take a 8-7 lead with an assist from Spratt 4:45 into the half. From this point, American held the lead the remainder of the day. Spease followed up her first goal of the game with her second less than a minute later as Apuzzo found the senior cutting through the UMBC defense
• Murdoch poured on the points for the Eagles' offensive efforts with her third goal with 5:18 remaining in the quarter with Frank notching the assist.
• Before the end of the quarter, UMBC was able to pull itself within striking distance with a goal of its own as American led 10-8 heading into the final quarter.
• Murdoch scored her fourth and fifth goals of the game to start off the final frame with the first coming on a man-up free position shot attempt and the second coming courtesy of an assist from Apuzzo.
• Frank earned another goal for the Eagles with 8:33 remaining on a free position shot attempt before the Terriers scored a pair of goals to bring American's lead to 13-10 heading into the waning minutes.
• Spratt capped American's offensive efforts with 2:36 remaining with her second goal before UMBC found the net for its final goal less than a minute later.

NEXT UP
American stays home for a local game against George Mason on Thursday Feb. 29, with a 2 p.m. start. American will follow up with a pair of away games, beginning with a Patriot League game at Lehigh on Saturday, March 9.

For the latest on AU Lacrosse, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_Lacrosse) and Instagram (@au_wlax).