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March 26, 2004

Sophomore goaltender Kathleen Finnegan made a season-high 16 saves in a 12-5 loss to No. 18 George Mason on Monday.

FAIRFAX, Va. — Sophomore goaltender Kathleen Finnegan (Arnold, Md./St. Mary's) was spectacular in net, stopping a season-high 16 shots, but the American University women's lacrosse team's offense could not keep pace with 18th-ranked George Mason in a 12-5 loss Monday at GMU Stadium.

AU held a 2-0 lead four minutes into the game, on goals by Nicole McCarthy (Flourtown, Pa./Springfield) and freshman Caitlin Gorman (Springfield, Va./Bishop Ireton). However, the Patriots ran off a string of seven unanswered goals.

Senior Tara Michael (Owings, Md./South River) tried to rip the momentum back for the Eagles, scoring two of the game's next three goals, but GMU scored two goals late in the first half and one to begin the second stanza to grab a commanding 11-4 lead.

AU could muster just one goal in the second period, when junior attacker Rebecca Copeland (Webster, N.Y./Webster) buried a feed from senior Lindsay Cartin (West Chester, Pa./Henderson). The goal by Copeland gives her 99 career points, just one point away from being the sixth AU player to score 100 career points.

Finnegan's play kept the Eagles in it for the game's entirety. The 5-2 keeper stop 16 of 28 shots on net, many from close range, for a .571 save percentage. In one flurry, Finnegan stop a Patriot shot from just outside the crease, and then dove to the backside of the net to stop another GMU attempt with her hand.

Still, AU could not overcome 23 turnovers and picking up just 20 ground balls compared to GMU's 29. The loss puts the Eagles record at 7-8.

American returns to action next weekend in the semifinals of the Patriot League Championship Tournament. AU squares off against Bucknell in the opening round on Saturday at 2:30 on Tyler's Field on the campus of Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. In the other semi-, Colgate faces Lafayette at noon on Saturday. The winners will meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. for the PL Championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.