Given all the misery Yale University has put the Boston University women’s lacrosse team through in the past 25 years, it’s no surprise that the Terriers took the field yesterday looking for a little revenge. And BU quickly realized payback was sweet.
Jenny Hauser sparked the 12th-ranked Terriers (4-2) with a career-high eight points and Mary Beth Miller added six of her own, as BU went on to trounce Yale, 15-5, for the program’s first-ever victory over the Bulldogs (3-4).
“There was a lot of pressure coming into today because we’ve never beaten Yale,” said goalie Jenna Golden, who steadied the Terriers with eight saves in net. “We’re 0-9 against Yale. We really made history today and it was a big win.”
The Terriers also stretched their winning streak at Nickerson Field to 16 games, not having lost at home since the last game of the 2004 season against the University of New Hampshire.
“Girls are just brats,” said BU coach Liza Kelly, explaining the streak. “They like waking up in their own beds and having their own food, whatever they want for breakfast. But I think its just confidence in knowing how the ball plays on the field. It’s a nice home field advantage.”
And if the Terriers were a little more refreshed from sleeping in their own beds, it showed early. BU jumped out to an early 5-1 lead on the strength of three Lindsay Lewis goals to open the game, as Lewis netted a first-half hat trick for the second time in as many games.
“I think when you start a game off like that, it kind of ignites the entire team,” Kelly said. “You know that you can hit somebody, so when they’re open you don’t hesitate passing the ball in there.”
That attitude showed, as Lewis was one of four Terriers to record hat tricks in the game. Hauser got in on the party shortly after Lewis finished her flurry of goals, cutting to the net and snapping home a Miller pass from behind the net just over 10 minutes into the game — a goal which gave BU its first four-goal margin of the afternoon.
But for once it wasn’t Hauser’s goals, but her assists that were the story. The sophomore attacker racked up four helpers in the game to go along with her four goals, extending her team-leading point total to 29.
“Having assists up there with the goals, I like having that,” Hauser said. “I think it was just the plays, and people were moving and cutting off the ball, and everyone was getting involved and that just made it easy.”
And while Hauser was busy dishing the offense around, Miller — normally known for her assists after finishing 12th nationally in that category a year ago — went on the attack, netting three goals to go along with her three assists.
The game wasn’t a complete romp, however, as Yale scored two goals in the last 10 minutes before halftime and tacked on another just after the break, making it a 6-4 game with almost a full half to play.
But then Sarah Dalton exploded onto the scene, scoring three goals in a span of 52 seconds to stretch the margin back to five. Dalton’s goals sparked a run of nine unanswered BU goals over 26 minutes of the second half, while, at the same time, answering some of the questions and expectations surrounding the prized freshman recruit.
“She’s a freshman, so I think it’s confidence,” Kelly said. “Maybe the first one was kind of like, ‘Wait, wait, a second I can do this.’ The second one reinforces it, and the third one sends it home. I think she’s just a great player, and I hope that that’s the Sarah that we see the rest of the season.”
And while the Terriers were busy racking up goals, Yale was struggling to get anything going offensively at all. BU outshot the Bulldogs, 40-20 in the game, while Golden allowed only four of those to get past her reach before being replaced by backup goalie Colleen McClay with the game well in hand.
Sara Greenberg was the only Bulldog to crack BU’s defense, scoring three goals and assisting on another. But after Greenberg’s goal a minute and a half into the second frame, Yale was unable to find the back of the net until Taylor Fragapane scored with one second left in the game to provide the final margin.
The Terrier defense also helped out Golden by completely shutting down Lauren Taylor, who led the Ivy League with 24 goals coming into the game. Taylor was a complete non-factor in the game, managing only one off-the-mark shot.
“I think the defense played well and did a good job of holding body and maybe getting into her head early,” Kelly said. “But I also question maybe if she was injured or not 100 percent today.”
The win gives the Terriers back-to-back wins for the first time this season, and at just the right time. BU begins conference play this weekend against Stony Brook University and is looking to repeat its undefeated America East season of a year ago.
“We just want to prove that we are the best in the league, and so we’re just going to keep thinking that,” Hauser said. “We want to come out and dominate every game, never come out flat, always come out on top.”