Last weekend's matches at Reeves Field showcased two sides of the Women's Lacrosse team: the one that's assertive only late in the game, and the one that can put a team under pressure for all 60 minutes.
The latter side showed up Sunday for the Eagles (5-6, 3-0 Patriot League), who led LaSalle (5-5) in the opening minutes before striking hard in the second half as they broke a two-match losing streak with a 17-13 victory.
The win followed Friday's 11-9 loss to Denver (2-9), in which a strong finish couldn't overcome a miserable first half.
AU outscored the Explorers 9-3 in the second half Sunday, but the Eagles were also pleased with their good start. They opened with a 4-1 lead in the first eight minutes, thanks to a pair of assists and a slashing goal by junior midfielder Moriah Linnel. She finished with three goals and two assists after being held scoreless by Denver.
"We're a second-half team, so it was important to have that first goal of the game," said senior attacker Rebecca Copeland, who scored five goals in Sunday's match, including the one that gave AU the 12-11 lead it kept for the victory.
But a goal from freshman attacker Lauren Aksionoff was perhaps the most timely goal of the afternoon for AU. With just one second left in the first half and the Explorers riding an 8-3 run, Aksionoff, who scored twice in the match and assisted on three more goals, took a pass from behind the net and fired it past the LaSalle 'keeper. It brought the Eagles within two and gave them the foundation for their second-half onslaught.
AU's 17 goals, all scored despite icy wind gusts and rain, were the most scored by the team since last year's Patriot League semifinals, when the Eagles beat Bucknell, 17-3. The Explorers are no strangers to the AU offense: They were on the losing end of an 18-12 decision to the Eagles in 2003.
AU coach Ashley Flannigan praised the efforts of her team, which had lost the previous two games by a total of three goals.
"I think they were hungry for a win," she said. "We've had three games in five days."
One of those games was Friday's frustrating loss to Denver, which had lost seven straight but scraped out a win with its patient offense and midfield defense. The Pioneers led 6-2 at the half after controlling the ball for most of the session and challenging the Eagle offense the whole length of the field. The lead grew to six goals with 10 minutes left in the game. Copeland then scored two of her game-high four goals in AU's four-goal charge to end the game, but it still left the Eagles short.
AU now turns its attention to the heart of the PL season, with the top half of the league's talent on the docket. The Eagles snagged comfortable wins in the first three games of the league campaign, but next Sunday they travel to Holy Cross (6-5, 3-1). The Eagles finish with two home matches, taking on defending champion Colgate (8-4, 3-0) and Bucknell (3-8, 2-1).
The right to host this year's PL tournament and have the easiest track to the league championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament should be on the line.
