The No. 13 Boston University field hockey team will travel to Durham to take on No. 22 University of New Hampshire on Thursday. The game decides who will be the last undefeated school in America East conference play.
BU (9–5, 3–0 America East) is coming off a rare and unexpected loss to Hofstra University this past weekend, which BU coach Sally Starr said was disappointing.
“There was a rare misstep on Sunday,” Starr said. “There will not be another one tomorrow. There cannot be another one.”
BU has repeatedly proven itself to be one of the most dominant teams in the conference. A 2–1 win over No. 23 University at Albany, a 4–2 win over the University of Vermont and, most recently, a 3–1 win over the University of Maine show a pattern. With a victory over the Wildcats, BU would stand alone in first place and would be just short of a guaranteed regular season conference championship for the 2012 season.
“This is going to be a game we’re very much up for,” Starr said. “A goal that we set for ourselves was [to be] regular season champs, and UNH stands in our way.”
Despite that they are ranked lower than the Terriers nationally, the Wildcats (7–7, 3–0 America East) are a tough obstacle for BU.
Overall, the Wildcats have 45 goals, compared to BU’s 27. In all three of its America East matchups, UNH has scored at least twice while putting points on the board in all but two of their 14 games overall.
A major reason for UNH’s success is junior forward Hannah Richard.
With 11 goals and four assists in 14 appearances, she leads the Wildcats’ offense. Close behind her are sophomore forward Meg Flatley and junior back Megan Bozek, both of whom have seven goals.
“Their strikers are dangerous with the ball,” Starr said. “They’re fearless in the circle. [Richard] is one we’re going to have to watch out for specifically, but we just have to do a good job of playing aggressive defense against all of them.”
The Terriers have threats of their own on both ends of the field.
Senior goalkeeper Jess Maroney — who was named America East Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season — is rated the second-best goalkeeper in the country based on her .840 save percentage. That percentage is second only to University of Connecticut goalkeeper Sarah Mansfield.
On offense, nearly everyone is a threat as nine Terriers have scored this season. Senior defender Jacinda McLeod is the current team leader with seven goals and four other players have at least three.
The 1–0 loss against Hofstra was “horrendous,” Starr said, but the Wildcats are also entering the game with a loss in their last match.
UNH fell to No. 16 Boston College Sunday 6–2 after conceding four goals in the second half.
These losses, along with an undefeated conference record, puts both BU and UNH on nearly even ground for tomorrow.
“We’re looking to rebound off of a loss, just like [UNH],” Starr said. “I’m sure they have had a tough week of practice — as we have — in order to get back on the saddle and play the way they know they can play.”
Starr said the biggest factor in the Terriers’ rebounding is focus.
She said the main reason for her team’s losses this season was not that other teams performed much better, but rather that her players hurt themselves with sloppy decisions late in games.
“We need to find our ‘on’ switch,” Starr said. “We need to find it and keep it on for the full 70 minutes.”
If Thursday’s game ends in favor of the Terriers, they will remain in the running for an NCAA at-large bid.
BU will likely have to win every game for the remainder of the season, including this Sunday’s home game against No. 10 Northeastern University (11–3) if it wants to make the postseason.
“We want to continue to play into November,” Starr said. “We’re in a situation then where we can’t afford a loss. A loss gives us a culmination to the season.”
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