No. 15 AU Field Hockey Claims 4-0 Season Opener Over UNH

Aug. 30, 2008

Box Score

WASHINGTON - Irene Schickhardt led the No. 15 ranked American University field hockey team to a 4-0 win over New Hampshire in its season opener on Saturday at Jacobs Field on day one of the American Invitational. The senior forward tallied a goal and an assist in the win. AU will face the 19th ranked team in the country at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday in the University at Albany.

Despite a slow start, the Eagles were able to get an early goal when Emily Stovicek found sophomore Christine Fingerhuth for a goal at the 7:31 mark. AU would finish with nine shots in the first half, but could not put another in for a score.

AU (1-0) hit its stride late in the second half as the offense got back into the swing of things. Emily Stovicek scored her first goal of the season off of another Schickhardt assist at 58:01. Schickhardt scored her third points of the season at 62:09 off of a Megan Henry rebound, and freshman Natalie Ellenberger scored her first career goal in her collegiate debut at the 66 minute mark off of an assist from Stovicek to give the Eagles the 4-0 victory.

"We are really excited to get our season started on the right foot," said AU head coach Steve Jennings. "We pressured UNH from the beginning and as we gained more confidence in the circle our shots started to fall and we took control of the game."

American out-shot New Hampshire (0-1) by an 18-5 margin. Alyssa Poorman made three saves for the Eagles, while Jenna Lehman had five stops for the Wildcats. AU also had a 7-2 advantage in penalty corners.