EMAIL THIS PAGE

March 20, 2004 | Stats

Senior Nicole McCarthy scored four goals and added an assist in a 15-10 win over Lehigh on Saturday.

WASHINGTON — American University women's lacrosse ripped off a 10-goal run to start the second half and turn a 9-4 halftime deficit into a 15-10 win over Lehigh in Patriot League action Saturday at Reeves Field.

The Eagles dug themselves a huge hole in the first half, when they allowed the Mountain Hawks to score on nine of their first 10 shots. Although AU held a 2-1 lead early on goals by Moriah Linnell (Antrim, N.H./Contoocook Valley) and Nicole McCarthy (Flourtown, Pa./Springfield), Lehigh went on a 4-0 streak between 19:17 and 15:25 of the first to take a commanding 5-2 lead.

McCarthy tallied again to pull AU within two, but the Mountain Hawks responded with another four-goal run to take a 9-3 lead. Only a tally by McCarthy, her third of four goals on the game, with 46 seconds remaining in the first could stop Lehigh's momentum.

However, the second half was a completely different story. American dominated play, outshooting LU 24-5 in the latter period and picking up 15 ground balls to the Mountain Hawks' seven. As a result, the Eagles scored the first 10 goals of the second stanza, including three by Rebecca Copeland (Webster, N.Y./Webster), and AU pulled ahead 14-9 with a goal at the 8:13 mark by senior co-captain Courtney Bennett (McLean, Va./McLean).

Lehigh's Barrie Cominsky pulled LU within four with 6:55 left, but Linnell scored her fourth goal with four seconds left on a free position shot to seal the victory.

Cominsky led Lehigh, which falls to 2-3 and 0-1 in the Patriot League, with three goals and one assist. Mountain Hawk goaltender Kyle Begina faced 35 AU shots and stopped nine.

Linnell led AU with four goals,two assists, four draw controls, four ground balls and three caused turnovers. McCarthy chipped in four goals and one assist, while Copeland's three goals vaulted her into fifth place at AU in career goals, ahead of last year's leading scorer, Gina Riitano. Copeland, a junior, is now 34 goals behind head coach Ashley Flanigan on the career goals list.

Freshman attacker Caitlin Gorman (Springfield, Va./Bishop Ireton) contributed two goals and an assist. Sophomore Kathleen Finnegan (Arnold, Md./St. Mary's) made three saves to pick up the win. The Eagles improve to 3-3 on the season and 2-0 in the Patriot League.

American faces a stiff test this Wednesday when they travel to historic Homewood Field in Baltimore to square off against Johns Hopkins at 4 p.m.