Senior back Jacinda McLeod announced the start of the Boston University field hockey team’s season with a bang on Friday, scoring the tying and then the game-winning goal in the Terriers’ 4-3 overtime win over the University of Delaware.
McLeod and fellow senior Tabi Hatch combined for nine of the Terriers’ (1-0) 16 shots and all four goals in the season opener. Hatch scored the first BU goal of the year in the game’s ninth minute, equalizing after the Blue Hens’ (0-1) Michaela Patzner opened the scoring.
Hatch, who finished fourth on the team in goals last year with five, struck again four minutes later. She knocked home a rebound from close range to put the Terriers in the lead, which they held for the rest of the first half. Early in the second half, the Blue Hens beat BU sophomore goalkeeper Valentina Cerda Embcke twice in ten minutes to take back a 3-2 lead. With about two minutes remaining in regulation, Hatch took a shot on net that Delaware goalie Sarah Scher saved, but the rebound led to some activity around the net that produced a penalty stroke for BU.
McLeod took the stroke, scoring her first goal of the season and the 24th of her career. Five and a half minutes into the extra frame, she ended the game with a shot from 10 yards out, assisted by her fellow New Zealander, junior midfielder Ella Gunson.
Hatch and McLeod alone almost outshot Delaware, who recorded 10 shots and four penalty corners to BU’s eight. Those two seniors and classmates Macey Gaumond and Nicole van Oosterom were the Terriers’ top four scorers last year, and all had at least one shot on goal in their final season opener.
This is the fifth season opener BU has won in the last seven years. The Terriers’ 2011 season ended with a 4-2 loss to the University of New Hampshire in the America East final on Nov. 6. They finished the year with an 11-9 overall record and a 4-1 mark in conference play.
In addition to returning their top four scorers from 2011, BU benefits from having Cerda, who was named America East Rookie of the Year last year. In her freshman campaign, she put up a .778 save percentage, good for eighth in the country and first among America East goalkeepers, and a 1.50 goals-against average, ranking her tenth nationwide. Against Delaware on Friday, she made four saves on seven shots to pick up the win.
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