The BU field hockey team put a season-high three goals - including the one above - past Brown goalie Kristen Hodavance. CAMBRIDGE – The offensive troubles that plagued the Boston University field hockey team for the early part of the season seem to have dissipated much like the downpour that hovered over Jack Barry Field during Saturday’s game against Brown University.
The Terriers came away with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Bears in Cambridge this weekend, scoring as many goals in one day as they had in their previous three games.
BU freshman Sarah Shute is making her case to be the America East Rookie of the Week. She scored the first Terrier goal in Saturday’s game with slightly less than five minutes in the first half. This comes just three days after the Maine native scored her first career goal against UMass-Amherst.
“We’re a young team and we’re going to keep getting better and better,” BU coach Sally Starr said. “We’re still developing.”
Before Wednesday’s game, the Terriers were averaging just 7.8 shots a game. Saturday, the Terriers put up 23 shots, connecting on three. This brings the team’s average up to 11.8, still lower than the shot attempts of their opponents at 16.2.
Saturday’s game began looking like it would be more of the same for the struggling Terriers. Brown’s Kristen Vincent was the first to light up the scoreboard. The Terriers, who are proud of their solid and aggressive defensive play, drew a penalty for tackling from behind. Vincent sliced a penalty stroke into the cage.
The Terriers refused to give up and instead, began playing aggressive offense. With around 16 minutes to go in the second half, sophomore Ashley Parker connected on a shot from the top of the circle after a penalty corner to score her first career goal.
Colleen McClay, who assisted on Parker’s goals, was awarded the Terrier Award for Saturday’s game. The award is given to a player who performs exceptionally well, and Starr said the midfielder was chosen primarily for her play after being asked to change positions.
McClay got into a position where she could make key offensive and defensive attacks, Starr said.
Joyce added another goal for the Terriers with 10:36 left to play in the game on an unassisted rebound from a penalty corner.
At .113, the Terriers’ shot percentage is down from the .129 average they posted last week, but the increase in shot attempts has led the Terriers to two straight victories.
In the team’s first six games, the Terriers now have eight goals on 71 shot attempts and have upped their scoring average to 1.26 goals per game, equal to that of their competitors. Saturday marked the first time the Terriers scored more than two goals in a game.
Starr said she thought the level of competition that the Terriers have faced is responsible for the change in offensive turnout.
The Terriers were shut out in games against the University of Maryland and Boston College. They brought the University of California to double overtime before losing 3-2. All three teams are ranked in the Top 15 nationally. The Terriers are 3-0 when facing non-ranked teams.
One area in which the team dominated Wednesday was in penalty corners. BU had 14 penalty corners, while Brown had only four.
“We’re beginning to get a lot better about penalty corners,” Starr said. “We’re making more good calls.”
And at this point in the season, it’s all about improvement.
“At the beginning of the season, on a scale of 1-10, we were about a two or a three,” Starr said. “Now we’re about a four or a five, and we’re going to keep working on it.”
