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April 22, 2003

Gina Riitano is 19th in the country in draw controls.

WASHINGTON — Sophomore Gina Riitano (Schenectady, N.Y./Albany Academy for Girls) and freshman Kathleen Finnegan (Arnold, Md./St. Mary’s) are in this week’s CAA’s statistical rankings while the American University women’s lacrosse team is in the top-20 in four categories.

Riitano is in the 19th spot in individual draw controls with 2.71 per contest. Finnegan enters the national charts this week in save percentage with a mark of 54.0 pct. after making a career-high 20 saves against St. Joseph’s last week.

For the second consecutive week, the Eagles are fourth nationally in draw controls with 13.07 per game. AU remained fifth in scoring offense with 12.43 goals per game. The Eagles are also ranked 17th in both scoring margin (+2.14) and caused turnovers (11.57 per game).

American’s next match is April 23 against Johns Hopkins at 4 p.m. The Eagles have clinched the Patriot League regular season title and will host the tournament on April 26-27. AU will face No. 4 Lehigh at noon on Saturday in the semifinals.

American University, which fields a 19-sport NCAA Division I athletics program featuring 10 women’s sports and nine for men, is in its second year of membership in the Patriot League. Since joining the Patriot League, the University has captured league championships in men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball, and regular-season titles in men’s basketball and women’s lacrosse.

Chartered by an Act of Congress in 1893, American University features students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and more than 160 nations worldwide.