With Holy Cross’ 8-7 victory over Lafayette April 21, the AU women’s lacrosse team clinched a spot in the Patriot League Tournament for the second straight year.
However, the Eagles will need to turn their play around if they want to make a run in the tournament.
AU dropped its regular season finale 14-4 at No. 12 Ohio State April 21, and the setback extended the team’s losing streak to a season-high four games. The Eagles (7-9, 3-3 PL) last earned a victory March 31, and have been outscored by a combined margin of 59-33 in the past four contests.
AU and Ohio State (10-4, 1-3 ALC) were scoreless for the game’s first four-plus minutes, before Gabby Capuzzi ended the scoring drought and started a 5-0 Buckeye run.
AU junior Kimberly Collins ended the run when she flung the first of her two goals into the back of the net, but the Buckeyes answered with four more to lead 9-1 as halftime neared.
Lauren Schoenberger ended an AU scoring drought of over 14 minutes when she scored with less than three minutes until halftime, but Ohio State tacked on one more to make it 10-2 Buckeyes at the break.
The Eagles wasted little time getting on the board in the second half, when top goal scorer Emily Burton connected with Collins, who pocketed her team-high second goal of the day.
Ohio State squashed any hope AU had of getting back into the game by scoring three goals within a span of 4:23 to go up 13-3.
One of those scores came from Capuzzi, who combined with teammate Cara Facchina for six goals on the day.
Samantha Marshall tossed in AU’s fourth and final goal of the day with 16:35 left to play, while Facchina followed with a score shortly after. Neither team scored over the remaining 15:32, as the Buckeyes coasted to the 10-goal win.
One notable performance for the Eagles came from Paige Lin, who picked up a career-high five draw controls. Meanwhile, Mia Rosen made her first collegiate start for the Eagles, recording eight saves while playing a full 60 minutes in goal.
The PL Tournament gets underway April 27 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. The No. 4 Eagles will take on top-seeded Navy in the first semifinal matchup, followed by No. 3 Holy Cross squaring off against No. 2 Colgate.
The conference championship game is set for April 29 at noon.
Navy used a strong second half to cruise past AU when the teams met April 13, outscoring the Eagles 10-1 over the final 30 minutes for the 19-6 win. Navy will enter postseason play riding a five-game winning streak and went 15-2 overall this season while finishing 6-0 in the Patriot League.
The Eagles are making their ninth trip to the conference tournament in their 11 seasons in the league, and will be looking to take home their first title since 2003.
