The goals keep piling up for BU lacrosse. Nineteen against Binghamton. Fifteen against Albany. Seventeen against Boston College. Fifteen against Vermont. The Terriers have scored 10 or more goals in every game this season. BU attackers run through the opposing defense seemingly unopposed. Goalies are left helpless, turning around time after time to retrieve the ball from the back of the net.
A quick glance at the NCAA statistical leaderboard hints at the Terriers’ offensive potency thus far. As of March 30, the team ranks sixth nationally in goals per game, contributing heavily to its No. 5 ranking in scoring margin. In only nine games, Sarah Dalton leads all Terriers with 36 goals. Lauren Morton and her 32 goals are not far behind, and Molly Collins and Traci Landy have more than 20 goals each. Impressive numbers, indeed.
Then, you go to a game and watch those numbers materialize in live action, and those hints are no longer necessary.
BU lacrosse was in Allston yesterday to play Harvard. It was a road game in name only, and the prospect of seeing a local rivalry game compelled me to take the short walk north, then west, to Harvard Stadium. I found a central place to sit just as the game got underway — I was planning on arriving early, but got lost in Allston en route — and got settled as BU moved into the attacking zone for the first time.
Despite my roots in the lacrosse hotbed of Long Island, I wasn’t exposed to the sport at a high level until I attended the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals at Stony Brook as a high school senior. I was instantly drawn in. Although the roots of lacrosse differ greatly from those of basketball and hockey, many of the elements that make lacrosse an exciting sport for both participants and spectators are shared with those two sports. Being a fan of basketball and hockey, my sudden interest in lacrosse wasn’t surprising.
But I had never seen women’s lacrosse. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would the passing be as crisp as in the men’s game? Would defenders contest scoring attempts with the same ferocity? Would the goals be of the same brilliant quality?
Yes, yes, and yes.
Women’s lacrosse isn’t quite the same animal as men’s lacrosse, but in either sport, a team playing at a high level is a beautiful thing to watch. The Terriers are such a team.
When transitioning from defense to offense, BU navigated through the midfield with ease, rendering Crimson defenders as useless as traffic cones. On offense, the Terriers patiently picked apart the Harvard defense, generating high-quality chances in front of the net and scoring with ease. Harvard rarely managed a shot on goal against BU’s defense, and Rachel Klein was more than up to the task when tested, saving seven shots against only six goals.
Although the Terrier defense held its ground, the offense was operating on another level. BU has a variety of weapons at its disposal. Dalton and Morton are a dangerous duo, but the surrounding players cannot be ignored. By spreading the ball around, the Terriers prevented Harvard from focusing solely on shutting down BU’s stars and allowed everyone to be involved in the attack.
As a result, the Terriers scored in bunches and in a variety of ways. Passes from near the end line found shooters in front of the crease. Players came from behind the net before spinning toward goal to elude the defender and gain an uncontested shot from close-range. Terrier attackers used a quick first step to beat their defender and move in on net before either taking the shot themselves or passing the ball to a suddenly wide-open teammate.
If only one or two of these strategies worked, Harvard might have stood a chance at slowing down the Terrier attack. BU, however, is no one-trick pony. The Terriers had an answer for everything Harvard threw at them. The Ivy Leaguers were stumped.
And by halftime, with a 10-goal deficit staring them in the face, the Crimson were finished.
The Terriers have two more significant tests remaining on their schedule: a road contest against Stanford this Sunday, and a home game against conference foe New Hampshire on April 12. If BU can defeat those ranked opponents and make it to the NCAA Tournament unscathed, a good seed and a manageable first-round opponent should await.
I wouldn’t want to be the opposing goalie.
Matt Whitrock, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
