The American University lacrosse team (5-11) lost to the No. 22 Navy Midshipmen (13-5) on April 24 by a score of 17-5 at Jacobs Field. It was the team’s final game of the regular season, as they failed to qualify for the Patriot League Championship Tournament.
The Eagles looked to snap a six-game losing streak heading into this matchup, having fallen most recently to the Boston University Terriers on April 19. The Midshipmen looked to start a winning streak to take them into the Patriot League Tournament, boasting wins at the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on April 16, and at home against the Lafayette Leopards on April 19.
The match began with early scoring fireworks with 4 goals scored in as many minutes. The advantage after that time went to Navy, which saw attacker Alyssa Chung score unassisted twice to give the Midshipmen the lead. American’s goal came from junior attacker Kristen Hegarty, assisted by senior attacker Alyssa Apuzzo.
Navy kept its foot on the gas, scoring 3 more goals before the end of the quarter to widen their lead, finding themselves up 6-1 entering the second quarter.
The Midshipmen pressed their advantage in the second quarter, quickly scoring twice more to go up 8-1. The Eagles’ defense started to show some life after that point, led by senior goalkeeper Caleigh Forti, who made four saves before allowing another goal.
Even after letting another goal through, Forti found an opening, getting the ball to Apuzzo for a goal near the end of the quarter. Another goal quickly followed, this one from senior attacker Maddy Spratt. The Eagles found themselves at a large but manageable 6-goal deficit entering halftime after their offense flared up at the end of the half.
The third quarter started with a defensive battle between Navy and American, neither team able to find a goal for the first five minutes of the third quarter. Forti notched another two saves before an unlucky bounce on a shot from the Midshipmen found its way into the goal, followed quickly by another. The Eagles wound up in an 8-goal hole at 11-3, with little answer for the onslaught from Navy.
A goal from freshman attacker Peyton Coleman livened the crowd, earning a loud cheer and support from the fans. This, however, was the last time American would score until the final eight minutes of the game. Navy put up 6 more goals between the end of the third and early fourth quarters, putting the Eagles down 13, staring down the lens of a major loss to end their year.
American did not let Navy have the last word though; Spratt tallied one more goal to set the final score at 17-5.
Spratt’s 2 goals led the Eagles in scoring, while Forti ended the match with 18 saves for American, five more saves than American had shots for the match.
In a message to the fans of American’s lacrosse team, head coach Lindsay Teeters said, “We want to be competitive. [Fans should] have faith in us to retool and make a few less turnovers per game than we did this season, that’s how we win those close games that we lost this season.”
Teeters expressed confidence in the team’s ability to be competitive next season, even after losing 12 seniors to graduation.
“They’ve got big shoes to fill, but I have the utmost faith in our underclassmen to do it,” Teeters said.
This article was edited by Jack Stashower, Penelope Jennings and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Olivia Citarella, Sabine Kanter-Huchting and Nicole Kariuki.
