Women’s lacrosse falls to American University 19-15

The Lehigh women’s lacrosse team fell to American University, 19-15, on Friday afternoon at Frank Banko Field in Bethlehem. 

The Mountain Hawks (5-5, 0-3 Patriot League) were led on offense by Molly Snow, Kacie Wines and Gracie Shoup, who scored three goals each. 

Sophomore attacker Ava Schulties and junior midfielder Grace Martel also added two goals for Lehigh. 

Senior midfielder Reagan Murdoch led the Eagles (2-7, 1-1) with five goals while first-year midfielder Shannon Silvius and senior attacker Kellie Linehan each added four. 

Lehigh took a 10-9 lead into the locker room at halftime. But as the third quarter began, the Eagles began to claw back. After falling behind 13-10 five minutes into the period, American scored three unanswered goals to tie it at 13 with 2:22 left, stealing any waning momentum from Lehigh’s first half lead.

“We kept talking about our body language and keeping our heads up,” Shoup said. “I feel like it’s a matter of turning that into action and not just saying it.”

At the 11:30 mark in the fourth quarter, American took its first lead of the game with a goal from junior attacker Adria Kotzian. At 9:52, Wines’ third goal of the game tied the contest at 14.

After Wines secured the hat-trick, Lehigh’s offense stagnated. The Eagles outscored the Mountain Hawks 5-1 over the final eight minutes of play.

Believing Lehigh could have won the game, coach Steph Lazo said the loss was disappointing.

“We got really complacent with how we were playing, and American played an awesome four quarters,” she said. 

She said when games are this close, it’s important for the team to stay sharp with their execution and to continue believing in themselves.

Lazo said Shoup (3 goals, 3 assists), senior attacker Karina Van der Walt  and first-year midfielder Cara Childs played well.  

“(Shoup) played great today offensively,” Lazo said. “When Kacie was being face-guarded, she really stood out, and really stepped into that role, which was great for us.”

With 8:20 left to go in the fourth quarter, American sophomore midfielder Anastasia Byrnes scored to give the Eagles a 15-14 lead. Less than a minute later, Murdoch scored again — her fifth of the contest — to give American a two-goal lead. And seconds later, attacker and midfielder Linehan secured a hat trick, extending American’s lead to 17-14. 

With 4:09 left, Linehan scored her fourth goal of the game to give American a 18-14 lead.

Schulties finally broke the Eagles scoring run with a goal less than a minute later. But as the clock began to run out on a potential Mountain Hawk comeback, American took advantage of draw controls and a turnover to maintain possession for the final three minutes of the game.

Silvius later scored with 22.8 seconds left to ice the game for the Eagles.

The Mountain Hawks are back in action Wednesday when they play Navy in Annapolis, Maryland. Lazo said the team will need to be more consistent and contain their offense.

“They are an offensive powerhouse for sure,” she said. “Defensively, they play really well as a unit, so we need to make sure our execution is sharp.”