WASHINGTON - American University head women's lacrosse coach Katie Woods has announced the team's 2009 schedule which includes nine home games, seven road games and several highly competitive non-conference matches.

"We are very excited about the upcoming season and the level of competition we will face," Coach Woods said. "Our non-conference schedule features several quality teams and these games will go a long way in preparing us for conference competition. The Patriot League will be very competitive again this year and we look forward to the challenges that are ahead of us."

For the second consecutive year, the Eagles will open their season against Ohio State, this year on Feb. 13 at 3:00 p.m. at AU's Jacobs Recreational Complex. The Eagles will then head to Philadelphia to take on Drexel on the 18th and will return home on Feb. 25 to play cross-town rival George Washington. To round out the month, AU will travel to Old Dominion on the 28th.

The Eagles will face their first ranked opponent of the season, Richmond, on March 4. Last year Richmond reached as high as No. 14 on the Inside Lacrosse Women's Media Poll. The team will also travel to Fairfax, Va., in March to play George Mason on the 25th. GMU was ranked 15th in the final poll of the 2008 season.

American will open its Patriot League schedule with one the most anticipated games of the season when it travels to Colgate for a rematch of the 2008 Patriot League Championship Game on March 7. AU will then travel to New York City to play Columbia during spring break, marking the two team's first meeting since the 1997 season.

Patriot League rival Navy will visit American on April 1 to begin a five game home stand to close out the year. On April 4, the Eagles will host Virginia Tech in the team's second annual Lax Blowout game. AU will then host UMBC, Davidson, and Holy Cross to end the regular season. The PL Tournament will be played April 24 & 26 on the home field of the tournament's No. 1 seed.

Date            Opponent / Event        Location                Time
Sat., Feb. 7    Johns Hopkins $         Cedar Lane Park      3:00 p.m. ET
Fri., Feb. 13   Ohio State              Washington, D.C.     3:00 p.m. ET
Wed., Feb. 18   at Drexel               Philadelphia, Pa.    4:00 p.m. ET
Wed., Feb. 25   vs. George Washington   Washington, D.C.     3:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Feb. 28   at Old Dominion         Norfolk, Va.         1:00 p.m. ET
 
Wed., Mar. 4    vs. Richmond            Washington, D.C.     3:30 p.m. ET
Sat., Mar. 7    at Colgate *            Hamilton, N.Y.       1:00 p.m. ET
Tue., Mar. 10   at Columbia             New York, N.Y.       3:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Mar. 14   vs. Bucknell *          Washington, D.C.     1:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Mar. 21   at Lehigh *             Bethlehem, Pa.       1:00 p.m. ET
Wed., Mar. 25   at George Mason         Fairfax, Va.         5:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Mar. 28   at Lafayette *          Easton, Pa.          1:00 p.m. ET
 
Wed., Apr. 1    vs. Navy *              Washington, D.C.     3:30 p.m. ET
Sat., Apr. 4    vs. Virginia Tech       Washington, D.C.     1:00 p.m. ET
Wed., Apr. 8    vs. UMBC                Washington, D.C.     4:00 p.m. ET
Sun., Apr. 12   vs. Davidson            Washington, D.C.     1:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Apr. 18   vs. Holy Cross          Washington, D.C.    12:00 p.m. ET
 
Fri., Apr. 24   Patriot League Tournament Semifinals
Sun., Apr. 26   Patriot League Tournament Final

* Conference game
$ Exhibition

2008-10-21