It has been quite the fall semester for American University Athletics. Out of the six programs that competed in the fall, three won Patriot League regular season championships, demonstrating resilience throughout their seasons.
The teams that compete in the fall are the men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball and field hockey. I decided to take a closer look at some of their seasons.
American’s volleyball team had their most successful regular season since 2019, when they also went 15-1 in Patriot League play. They captured the regular season conference championship as well as the Patriot League Tournament title, earning them an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they travelled to Indiana to play #5 Colorado in the first round and lost in straight sets.
A lot of this success should be credited to players like Elise Sterling who led the Patriot League in hitting percentage, Deniz Dakak who led the Patriot League in assists and Alexandra Ioannou who led the Patriot League in service aces.
Accomplishments like these and so many others combined to put together a really successful team for the Eagles this season.
American’s field hockey team, who has a history of successful seasons, did not take the foot off the gas this fall, going undefeated against Patriot League opponents until the first round of tournament play when they dropped a game 1-0 to Boston at home. This was a very disappointing way for their season to end, yet it should not overshadow the success they had during the regular season.
In field hockey, small things can make a big difference. One of those statistics for the Eagles this fall was game-winning goals. Jordan Reicher led the Patriot League in game-winning goals this season and that clutch factor is what led to American finding success.
On the other hand, when somebody like Reicher is scoring over a quarter of your team’s goals, it is harder to win games when she is not scoring. This was evident in the Patriot League semifinal when Reicher did not score, and the Eagles lost 1-0 to Boston.
Men’s soccer was the other team at American that won a Patriot League regular season title. However, just like field hockey, the men’s soccer team immediately fell in the postseason. Lafayette, in what ended up being a championship run, defeated the Eagles in overtime of the Patriot League semifinal on a sudden-death penalty kick. As unlucky as the ending seemed, they were lucky to have even gotten to overtime. American had a miraculous comeback at the end of regulation that evened the score at 2 goals a piece after 2 penalty kicks for the Eagles.
Men’s soccer found success this season for multiple reasons, but one was their goalkeeper, Matthew Tibbetts. American allowed opponents to take significantly more shots than they took themselves this season, but the Eagles converted on more of their shots than their opponents.
Similar to field hockey, men’s soccer found one player scoring over a quarter of their goals. This has even more of an effect in soccer, because there is typically less scoring in soccer than field hockey. Troy Elgersma scored both of the Eagles’ goals in that postseason game. The problem was that, other than Elgersma, nobody could find the back of the net. American took 23 shots total, but only scored on 2. Lafayette won only taking 12 shots total, a much greater conversion rate.
One sport that did not get the attention it deserved this fall season was men’s cross country. They performed well at meets throughout the season and placed third at the Patriot League Championships, their best finish since 2013. Senior Kaden Kluth led the Eagles, finishing fifth overall at the race, and cut off over 25 seconds from his team-leading time last season at the event.
This was a very successful season of athletics for American, despite the firing of the women’s soccer coach and multiple early playoff exits. American needs to continue this success and normalize it. There should be an expectation that this success will come, and when it doesn’t, changes should be made.
This article was edited by Matthias Jaylen Sandoval, Penelope Jennings and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Sabine Kanter-Huchting, Avery Grossman and Ryan Sieve.
