“Practice makes perfect” just doesn’t seem to ring true for the Boston University lacrosse team so far this season.
Coming off a week of practice in which coach Liz Robertshaw preached discipline above all else, the Terriers echoed few of her sentiments Saturday afternoon, as Stony Brook University outmaneuvered BU en route to a 16-13 victory.
The Terriers (4-5, 1-1 America East) were paced by season-high performances from senior Angie Martin and sophomore Sarah Dalton, who combined for 11 of BU’s 18 total points. However, a dismal 38-percent success rate from inside the 12-meter arc, along with 20 team fouls and 14 unforced turnovers, outweighed the team’s offensive production.
“We didn’t do exactly what we wanted to do,” Robertshaw said. “In all honesty, it was a lack of discipline more than anything. It is something we have dealt with all season, and it continued to hurt us on Saturday.”
For the second straight game, the Terriers’ attack unit peppered the opposition with a gaudy shot total. BU’s 34 attempts against the Seawolves (9-1, 2-0 AE), coming on the heels of 41-shot performance against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on March 31, led Robertshaw to believe that her aggressive, “go-to-goal” mentality had finally started to pay dividends.
But while the Terrier attackers have successfully piled up shot opportunities, they have also netted just 28 tallies in their last 75 tries.
“We’ve had some great shooting, and it’s great to have the number of opportunities we’ve had,” Robertshaw said. “But [Stony Brook goalkeeper Jen Sandtorv] had 15 saves on 34 of our shots. Yes, she is good, but we knew where we wanted to put the ball on her. When we did it, we scored – and we did it 13 times. But when we went to goal just to shoot the ball, we either shot it right at her or missed the cage, and that’s where we struggled.”
The lack of discipline extended to both sides of the field, as the BU defense turned out its shakiest performance since a 17-4 blowout loss to top-ranked Northwestern University on March 25.
Despite Robertshaw’s efforts to maximize the unit’s communication in regards to slide responsibilities, the defense failed to recognize shifts in the Stony Brook attack, allowing 11 of the Seawolves’ 16 tallies on backdoor cuts.
“We gave up 16 goals – we’re not communicating,” Robertshaw said. “They had a very good attack. We knew that going in and didn’t do what we were supposed to. We didn’t follow our game plan. We had a communication gap, and they took some early shots that we weren’t ready for and didn’t adjust to shut them out of the arc.”
To settle down the defense, Robertshaw replaced goaltender Jenna Golden with redshirt freshman Rachel Klein five minutes into the second frame. Coming off a stellar stretch that saw Golden stop 15 shots two weeks ago to earn America East Defensive Player of the Week award, the junior goalie turned away just three Stony Brook offerings while yielding 11 in 35 minutes between the pipes.
“With the communication, we needed a change,” Robertshaw said. “Jenna has been great for us, but we needed something to get us back on track. Rachel came in and played great. She made five big stops and managed to only let five past her. She gained a lot of confidence and gave [the coaching staff] a lot of confidence in her.”
In addition to miscommunication, a lack of physical discipline paralyzed the Terriers’ efforts. Though their sloppy play can be linked to inexperience, BU’s developing maturity over the last month was absent from Saturday afternoon’s contest. Despite committing just six fouls in the opening frame, BU was whistled for a season-high 14 second-half violations.
“Whatever it was, the issues with our discipline weren’t just from the freshmen,” Robertshaw said. “We had juniors and seniors making young mistakes. I guess we let them get away with certain things in practice, given that they don’t show up in games. But they didn’t do what we asked them to do, and we need to be tighter on that. Whether it starts in practice or not, if they don’t do what we ask for, we’re not going to let it slide.”
Unfortunately for Robertshaw and the Terriers, the team has little time to correct the mistakes that have plagued them this month. BU hosts cross-river rival Harvard University this afternoon in a postponed contest from last Wednesday, a game that saw BU score 10 goals in the opening 20 minutes before snow forced the game to be called.
“Nothing is absolute,” Robertshaw said. “We addressed the communication as soon as the game was over. We talked about what we want to see, what we didn’t see, and what we need to see against Harvard. We have a big week, with [the University at Albany] and Binghamton University this week. We have four games in eight days, so this past weekend has to be a learning experience and we move n. [Today] is our chance.”