WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Black Knights of Army West Point took a big early lead and never let up, sending American University lacrosse home with a 22-9 loss in Patriot League play on Saturday afternoon. Army improves to 4-1 in the league, while the Eagles drop to 1-5 with three games remaining.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Senior Hannah Spease and sophomore Reagan Murdoch both completed hat tricks for American, with Spease scoring four goals and Murdoch scoring three. Both added an assist as well. 
• Senior Maddy Spratt posted two assists along with one goal, and the fourth goal-scorer for AU was senior Becca Frank with one.
• Spease collected a team-high five draw controls, and was AU's most efficient shooter, scoring on all four of her shots.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Army raced out to an 8-0 lead and did not allow American a single goal in the first quarter.
• Frank and Murdoch scored back-to-back goals at the start of the second quarter, but that deficit of six was the closest AU would get the rest of the way.
• The Eagles were able to score six second-quarter goals to Army's five, including the final two of the half to get within seven at the break after being down by nine.
• Murdoch started that late spurt with a free-position goal with 52 seconds left, and Spease finished on a great pass from Spratt with just six seconds to go before the halftime buzzer. 
• Army finished with a 6-2 advantage in the third quarter, getting a running clock with its first 10-goal lead at 7:22 and holding at least that large of an advantage the rest of the way.
• Draw controls heavily favored the Black Knights, 22-12, thanks largely to Brigid Duffy who collected 10 of them along with scoring four goals and adding four assists for Army.

NEXT UP

• American returns to D.C. for its final home game of the season at noon on Saturday, April 13. The Eagles will celebrate both Senior Day and Mental Health Awareness as they host Bucknell at the Jacobs Complex.

STAY CONNECTED

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