To start off the weekend, the Boston University field hockey team made the short trip up to Newton to play against rival No. 17 Boston College.
Senior forward Leslie Zules struck first against the Eagles (4–2), recording her first goal of the season.
The BU (5–1) goalies had another spectacular game against the Eagles, especially sophomore Valentina Cerda Eimbcke, who saved three shots in a row to start the game.
She ultimately allowed a goal on the fourth shot as freshman Jacqueline Kelleher scored on a put-back.
Senior forward Nicole van Oosterom later broke the tie, ultimately giving the Terriers a 2–1 lead, which they would hold onto for the rest of the game.
After the win on Friday, the Terriers returned to Jordan Field to take on the No. 2 team in the nation, Syracuse University.
With Syracuse entering with a 4–0 record and the Terriers with a 5–0 record, this game became the battle of the unbeatens and could have made history, especially for the Terriers.
A victory for Boston would have meant a massive boost from the No. 12 spot in the national polls and for the first time in program history, the team could start off with a 6–0 record. However, the Terriers were unable to achieve this milestone as they fell to the Orange 2–0.
Both teams took their turns moving the ball into the other’s territory in the first half, unsuccessfully though as the score midway through was 0–0.
“I thought we played an excellent first half,” said BU coach Sally Starr. “I think we really pleased with our effort with our decision making. Offensively defensively I thought we were doing a lot of good things on the field.
Shortly after getting under way in the second half, the Terriers began to show signs of fatigue, especially on defense.
“To be able to press effectively, fitness is important – you’ve got to be moving early and going in good lines, cutting off passing lanes. I think with tired legs we weren’t doing that effectively,” Starr said.
It seems as if the Orange knew exactly what Starr was talking about; once they picked up on the lack of fire in the Terriers, the Orange went on attack mode.
For the majority of the second half, the Orange were in Boston territory, trying to take shots.
For a while, the Orange controlled the ball outside of the circle, unable to penetrate the Boston defense, almost as if they were playing keep away.
It was not until the 59th minute that the Orange put a point on a board. Syracuse’s Jordan Page scored the game’s first goal. The goal came after a great kick-save by senior Jess Maroney.
Maroney made up for the loss of a defender on a corner. Unfortunately for Maroney and the Terriers, Page responded quickly and knocked the goal in as the rest of the defense was still making its way downfield.
About a minute later, Syracuse capitalized on Boston’s fatigue by ripping through its defenders and scoring a quick goal with about 10 minutes left in the game.
The two-goal deficit was too much to overcome for the team. The Terriers finally began to apply pressure on Syracuse’s end of the field but it was simply too little, too late.
Starr said, “[In] the first half I think we did a lot of things well and I think we learned we can play with a team like that.”
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