When the No. 20 Boston University men’s lacrosse team kicked off its season back on Feb. 6, its goal of qualifying for the Patriot League Tournament commenced.
Fast forward to the end of March, and that seems entirely attainable for the Terriers (8-2, 3-1 Patriot League), but the toughest portion of their schedule awaits. BU will sequentially take on Lehigh University, a No. 15 United States Military Academy side, No. 16 Loyola University Maryland and the College of the Holy Cross.
Take out the lowly Crusaders (1-8, 0-4 Patriot League), and three of the conference’s top five seeds remain. Standing in BU’s way will also be Army’s (7-2, 4-0 Patriot League) Cole Johnson and Loyola’s (6-3, 3-1 Patriot League) Pat Spencer, who respectively lead the conference in goals (27) and assists (23).
Those sorts of challenges are not lost on BU head coach Ryan Polley, who said his team’s quest to make its first ever postseason tournament is contingent upon the right mentality.
“Are we playing teams that are a little more talented? Yes, and they’ve got great offensive players and great defensive players and great coaches,” the third-year head coach said. “The message is, we have to focus on ourselves for 90 percent of this and spend 10 percent on our opponents so we’re prepared and know exactly what they’re going to run and how we’re going to defend it.
“These games are so important going forward as we try and make a dent in the Patriot League and position ourselves for the playoffs,” he added.
Burr, Talkow providing reliable one-two punch
While others struggle at the faceoff dot, Polley has an embarrassment of riches when it’s time to restart possession. On one hand there’s the “dominant” junior Sam Talkow, and on the other is the “very capable” senior Elliott Burr, both of whom can ignite BU’s high-octane offense.
Talkow boasts the fifth best faceoff percentage in the nation, was added to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List and was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team back in January. Meanwhile, Burr won 10 of his 11 draws this past weekend against Lafayette College and boasts a .529 success rate on the year.
The go-to guy is Talkow, but Polley said there’s not much lost if his hand is forced.
“If Elliot was our primary guy, I think we’d probably be upwards of 50 percent,” Polley said. “I don’t know if we’d be as strong as with Sam there, but Elliot is a really strong faceoff guy. He’s a great number two, and he’s in a tough spot where he has to be ready and called upon at any second’s notice if Sam is struggling or gets tired or gets a penalty or gets hurt.”
Germain rewarding Polley’s trust in defense
The Terriers allow a respectable 8.6 goals per game, and a major reason for that is the stern presence of defenseman Quintin Germain.
While the freshman only has eight groundballs and six caused turnovers, he’s started every game for BU and been a steady presence throughout. Polley said Germain’s matchup depends on the opponent at hand, and his most recent assignment was one of the Patriot League’s toughest.
He lined up opposite Lafayette (1-7, 0-5 Patriot League) attack Jason Sands, who has the eighth most assists per game in the country, and limited Sands to one helper.
“Q’s done a great job for us,” Polley said. “He’s extremely intelligent in his decision making, and he understands when we need to get out on guys’ hands, when we need to play a little bit slower so we can recover. He’s just been tremendous for us and a big reason why our defense is playing at a high level. I’ve got to give him all the credit.”
Laviano stepping into increased role
BU’s freshman class was highly touted before the 2016 season, and another member is justifying the hype.
Michael Laviano, after rarely featuring early in the Terriers’ season, has emerged as a vital cog in BU’s third midfield line. Alongside sophomore Greg Farris and junior Chad Bell, Laviano has three points to his name and featured prominently against Lafayette.
However, Polley said through the guidance of assistant coach Justin Domingos, the freshman has slowly developed a more complete game.
“I think Michael’s done a better job in practice,” Polley said. “Coach Domingos has worked very hard with him to understand ball retention, and he’s certainly come a long way. He’s got to let the game come to him a little bit, and he’s done a good job these last two games for sure.”
Jonathan's a New Englander who writes about sports, features and politics. He currently covers men's hockey at BU, worked as Sports Editor during the spring 2016 semester and is on the FreeP's Board of Directors. Toss him a follow on Twitter at @jonathansigal.
