WASHINGTON –– Behind a brace from standout sophomore forward Jordan Reicher, the American University field hockey team defeated visiting Holy Cross 3-1 on Senior Day to win the Patriot League regular season title for the 16th time since joining the conference in 2001. It's the Eagles' second regular season championship in a row, and the 13th time they've gone undefeated in Patriot League play.

American (12-5, 6-0) will serve as the host of next week's Patriot League Championship, starting with two semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 6, and continuing with the championship at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8. The top-seeded Eagles will host fourth-seeded BU at 11 a.m. on Thursday, followed by No. 2 seed Lafayette against No. 3 seed Bucknell at 2 p.m. Head to the PL Tournament Central website for the latest information.

Quick Notables

• AU's lone senior, Pauline Gineste, was honored prior to the start of the game, with graduate students Kaleigh Missimer and Agustina Roffo also recognized.
• Gineste played all 60 minutes in the cage and made four saves to improve her season record to 11-5.
• Reicher's two-goal effort was her second of the season, and gives her a Patriot League-leading 13 goals as well as a league-leading four game-winning goals.
• Missimer came in for a penalty stroke for the second time this season, and converted for the second time to bring her career goals total to seven.

How It Happened
Just over three minutes into the contest, the Eagles were awarded a penalty stroke. Missimer entered the game to take the shot, and placed it into the lower left corner for a 1-0 lead.

In the 10th minute, the Crusaders scored their only goal of the contest on a shot from the left side of the cage by Martina di Gregorio Giralt that snuck into the lower right corner. 

American wasted little time going back on top as Reicher collected the ball in the offensive third and drove all the way in, cutting through traffic to score for a 2-1 lead.

Both goalkeepers made stops in the first minute and a half of the second period. The next strong chance was once again Reicher's as she forced a turnover from the Holy Cross defense, drove into the circle and fired home a shot to the near post for a 3-1 advantage.

The Crusaders were awarded their fifth and final penalty corner in the third period but were unable to get a shot off. Later in a third, a shot by Roffo was saved by Holy Cross goalkeeper Mia McCloskey.

Reicher might have finished with four goals in the game, but had two strong shots go off the post in the fourth period. The Eagles had all three of their penalty-corner opportunities in the final period, getting shots on goal from both Lotti Süme and Emilia Winkler that were saved by McCloskey. Shots in the fourth period totaled five for the Eagles to just one for Holy Cross.
 
From Head Coach Jennings
On how far the team has come:
"I couldn't be prouder of how far we've come (from opening day to now). We were in a pretty bad place but we were playing well and having a crisis of confidence. Then the team went on the road up to Boston and had we two really big wins that weekend and that started us on a really positive trend. They just worked hard throughout the whole year and stuck with the principles, and its gotten us to a pretty great place."

On Reicher:
"Jordan's been incredible this year. Such a threat with the ball, such a threat shooting, and certainly a threat on the defensive end. Really, really proud of her growth. She's just been very dynamic and hard to stop, and a key leader for us on the forward line. I know as much as she would have wanted to have four goals today, what she really wants is a trophy and we have to get back to work, because there's a tough game coming up and we have to find a way to take care of that."

Coming Up
The top-seeded Eagles will face fourth-seeded Boston University in the semifinals of the Patriot League Championships at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6 at the Jacobs Complex.
 
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American 3,  Holy Cross 1
Scoring: AU – Kaleigh Missimer (Penalty Stroke), 03:15; HC - Martina di Gregorio Giralt, 9:37; AU - Jordan Reicher, 13:26; AU - Jordan Reicher, 22:59
Shots: AU 10 (2/2/2/4), HC 8 (2/3/2/1)
Penalty Corners: AU 3 (0/0/0/3), HC 5 (2/2/1/0)
Goalkeeper Saves: AU 7 (Pauline Gineste, 60:00, 7 saves, 1 goal allowed); HC 6 (Mia McCloskey, 60:00, 6 saves, 3 goals allowed)
Records: AU 12-5 (6-0 PL); HC 6-10 (2-4 PL)