WASHINGTON –– On Sunday afternoon the Eagles of the American University field hockey team were locked in a defensive battle with the Rams of VCU through four scoreless periods of regulation and a fifth scoreless overtime period before the Rams found the back of the cage in the 73rd minute. The Eagles ended up falling at home to VCU, 0-1, in a double overtime clash.

Quick Notables

• The Eagles outshot the Rams 19-8, but the Rams' efficiency saw them level with American 6-all in shots on target. American did earn the advantage in penalty corners though, 5 attempts to VCU's three.
• Two Eagles were on the field for the entire 74 minutes of the contest: defender Lotti Süme and goalkeeper Pauline Gineste.
• Gineste made five saves throughout the contest and kept another clean sheet through regulation. 

How It Happened
The Eagles and the Rams played a tight, defensive contest with neither team able to score through all four periods of regulation and the first overtime period.
 
The second and final period of overtime was still a defensive struggle, as American took three shots, one from Emilia Winkler that went wide and two from Jordan Reicher, one getting blocked and the other, saved by the Ram's keeper.
 
Just shy of a minute after Reicher's shot was blocked by a Rams' defender and the visitors gained control of the ball, VCU's Lina Berhmann scored on a breakaway play.
 
This is the Eagles' first loss in a month, breaking a seven-win streak. This is American's second double overtime game this season, and it is also reminiscent of AU's 2024 season opener that saw the Eagles and the Rams go to double overtime, with the Rams also claiming that victory in the 72nd minute.
 
From Head Coach Jennings
"I think our takeaways are that we have to finish our chances, and that we created a lot of great opportunities. Credit to VCU, they're an awesome team, very well coached, and their team defended very well, but we had a number of chances that we have to finished, and if we'd finished any one of them, we would've been able to come today with a win in regulation–or overtime.
 
"We fought really hard, played really well. We need to keep improving."  

Coming Up
The Eagles are finishing up their five-game, D.C. homestand. For the fifth and final home game of this run will be on Fri., Oct. 17 against Bucknell before going out on the road to take on Richmond on Sunday, Oct. 19.
 
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American 0,  VCU 1
Scoring: VCU – Lina Behrmann, 73:30
Shots: AU 19 (2/0/1/7/6/3), VCU 8 (0/1/5/0/1/1)
Penalty Corners: AU 5 (1/0/0/3/1/0), VCU 3  (0/0/2/0/1/0)
Goalkeeper Saves: AU 5 (Pauline Gineste, 60:00, 5 saves, 1 goal allowed); VCU 6 (Emma Clements, 60:00, 6 saves, 0 goals allowed)
Records: AU 7-5 (3-0 PL), VCU 9-3 (3-0 A-10)