WASHINGTON - The American University women's lacrosse team scored three-consecutive goals to begin the second half and take a 4-3 lead over Navy but could not hold onto the lead late as the Midshipmen rallied to take an 8-6 win at Jacobs Field on Wednesday. Lauren Schoenberger led the American attack with two goals while Amanda Makoid picked up two points on one goal and one assist.

American controlled the pace of play for much of the first half and took the initial lead, 1-0, on a Makoid goal with 19:19 remaining. The Midshipmen however answered with three straight goals in the final 16 minutes of play and took a 3-1 lead into halftime.

AU opened the second half on a 3-0 run of its own to take a 4-3 lead 13 minutes into the frame. Leslie Fischer capitalized on a Navy foul to score the first goal of the period less than two minutes in and was followed by a Kira Sonberg free position goal with 23:52 to play to even the score at three. A Schoenberger goal with 17:33 remaining gave American its first lead since midway through the first period, 4-3.

Navy tied the score back up with 16:51 on the clock on the first of three-consecutive Katrina Nietsch goals. Nietsch scored again with 14 minutes to play to give Navy a 5-4 lead and again 19 seconds later to put the Mids up 6-4. Navy scored once more before the Eagles were able to get back on the board to push its lead to 7-4.

Gina Ibello cut the Midshipmen's lead to 7-5 with 12:37 left in the game off a feed from Makoid but the Eagles were unable to get any closer down the stretch. Navy regained a three-goal advantage, 8-5, on a Caitlin Mandrin Hill goal with 6:47 to play. American moved the score to 8-6 on Schoenberger's second goal of the day off an assist from Bernadette Maher with just over four minutes remaining. Navy however controlled possession of the ball after the ensuing draw control and ran out the clock to secure the victory, 8-6.

Schoenberger scored two goals to lead American on three shots. Makoid added two points with one goal and one assist while Fischer Ibello and Sonberg each scored once. Fischer led the Eagles on the defensive end of the field with three groundballs and one caused turnover. Alyssa Romano recorded a team-high three caused turnovers.

American will return to action on Jacobs Field this Saturday, April 4, at 1:00 p.m. against Virginia Tech in the team's second annual Lax Blowout game. Saturday's contest will be the final stop on the 2008-09 Phil Bender World Tour and all AU students in attendance will receive free pizza, free Coca-Cola products and free smoothies courtesy of Robeks of Tenleytown.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sophomore midfielder Katrina Nietsch (New Canaan, Conn.) erupted for three goals in a three-minute, 10-second span midway through the second half to send the Navy women's lacrosse team (7-3, 3-1 PL) to a hard-fought 8-6 road victory at American (2-9, 1-4 PL) on a rainy Wednesday afternoon at Jacobs Field.

The win is Navy's fourth-straight on the road and improves the team's record to 3-1 in Patriot League play and 7-3 overall. Meanwhile, with the loss the Eagles' postseason aspirations are dealt a major blow, as they fall to 1-4 in conference and 2-9 on the season.

"This was a great win for us," said Navy head coach Cindy Timchal. "I was proud of the way we battled today. American is a strong and feisty group. They came in needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive and they really threw everything they had at us.

"We didn't panic when they opened up the second half strong and then Katrina really took over. Once she starts playing with confidence like that - she becomes very difficult to contain."

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2009-04-01