The women's lacrosse team suffered a heartbreaking 13-12 loss Tuesday to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) by a last-second goal.
Despite remarkable individual performances by senior midfielder Tara Michael and junior attacker Rebecca Copeland, the Eagles fell in UMBC's first win of the season.
Going into the second period the Eagles were ahead 6-5, but AU was not able to make up for a quick run by UMBC in the middle of that period.
"We gave them [UMBC] a five-point run, and we gave up too many turnovers," said head coach Ashley Flanigan, speaking on her team's demise in the second period.
Tara Michael scored the game's first goal with an unassisted shot just over two minutes into the game. This was Michael's first of four goals, which would only be matched by Copeland.
"We have a lot of threats that we can look to, and that's what makes us successful," said Flanigan, of the performances by Michael and Copeland.
AU and the Retrievers fought neck and neck for the first 15 minutes, each responding to the other's goals and tying the game at three.
The most impressive play during the stalemate was made after a breakaway by sophomore defender Laura Barnes. The ball was deflected out of Barnes' stick only to be recovered by senior attacker Courtney Bennett. Bennett ran around the backside of the goal, misdirected UMBC goaltender Jena Goldstein and slinged a shot in the left side for a goal.
UMBC spent most of the first period in AU territory, but it was not able to capitalize on this advantage due to a valiant effort by Eagle defenders. Every time UMBC got into AU territory, the defenders pushed it out far enough from the goal to stop the possibility of any shot, allowing the Eagles to outshoot their opponent 13-10 in this period.
"We stayed together as a team and it showed out there," said Michael.
A three-point run toward the end of the first period put AU on top, 5-3. This run was spearheaded by two consecutive goals by Copeland. In both goals, Copeland displayed her superb deking skills and threw off multiple defenders.
UMBC replied to AU's run with back-to-back goals by Jen Dragoni, one of two Retriever players to score hat tricks. On both of Dragoni's assaults, she worked her way past multiple defenders to leave AU sophomore goalie Kathleen Finnegan open to a close, vulnerable attack.
In the closing minute of the first period, Bennett fed senior defender Lynn Brandon, who shot a dribbler past Goldstein. This score gave AU a 6-5 lead going into the second half.
Michael broke open the second half with two consecutive goals. The first was scored with 27:31 left, when a pass across the middle from Bennett allowed Michael to fire the ball into the back of the net.
UMBC responded to Michael's scores with a five-point run, which killed 10 minutes off the clock. UMBC kept intense pressure on the AU side by wearing down the defense and leaving AU unable to fight off any attacks.
"We simply [did] not take care of the ball," said Flanigan, on UMBC's five-point run in the second period.
Facing a two-point deficit heading into the final seven minutes, the Eagles put their rally caps on.
With 6:27 left, senior midfielder Nicole McCarthy made a free position shot after getting fouled near the UMBC goal. This goal placed AU within one of the tie.
UMBC received possession and stalled in AU territory before pitching off the ball to Kelly Fiorani, who notched her third goal of the game and extended UMBC's lead back to two.
Michael and Copeland worked together again and put up a goal that closed the gap again to one. Michael sprinted around the back of the net, diverting defenders and leaving Copeland open to receive a pass from Michael. Copeland then scored her third goal of the day.
The excitement on the AU bench was short-lived when only 28 seconds later Retriever Lauren Hess individually fought off three AU defenders to put her squad up by two, 12-10.
With two and a half minutes left in regulation, AU tied the match with two consecutive spectacular plays. Sophomore midfielder Moriah Linnell came across the middle to bring up several defenders before dishing the ball to Michael, who was open alongside the goalie and scored.
"We really tried hard to the very end," said Flanigan.
Only 15 seconds later, with 2:06 left on the clock, McCarthy broke down the field and passed to a wide-open Copeland, who converted for the tie.
With approximately two minutes to go, UMBC retained possession from the tipoff and aggressively pressed into AU's zone. The Retrievers passed frantically for a minute and a half, searching for an opportunity to shoot. They found this opportunity when AU fouled UMBC's Kelly Fahey near the goal. Fahey took a free position shot that put UMBC ahead by one with 16 seconds in regulation to win the game.
"This was a good learning experience. Even though we lost, we now know what we have to work on for upcoming games," said Copeland.
AU will travel to Villanova on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game.
