After a heartbreaking loss Wednesday to Harvard University, the Boston University lacrosse team will look to regroup as it returns to America East action against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Saturday at UMBC Stadium.
The Terriers (3-6, 1-0 America East) trailed the Crimson by as many as four goals in the second half before rallying to tie the game on two separate occasions, eventually losing in overtime. BU has had a disappointing showing so far in non-conference play this season, and following the Harvard game, BU coach Liza Shoemaker said the Terriers have left themselves with an uphill climb the rest of the season.
“We’ve made it tough,” she said.
Although the officiating in the Harvard game left both sides scratching their heads at times, the Terrier players and coaches said afterwards that while some of the calls were just plain bad, others were the result of mental lapses by BU.
“Some of the physical aspect might have come from us not thinking,” sophomore attacker Lindsay Lewis said Wednesday. “It’s not always stuff we’re doing wrong physically – a lot of it is mental.”
Shoemaker said even when the officials make dubious calls, she still expects her team to rise above the poor calls.
“You gotta play the whistle,” she said following the loss. “If the refs are calling it [tight] today, you gotta adjust your game and play to that.”
Despite the hard times, the Terriers should still eagerly anticipate the return to conference play, where BU has all but dominated over the past two seasons.
The squad has run up a 13-game unbeaten streak in the league, outscoring opponents 185-31 in the last 11 games. The Terriers defeated Binghamton University 20-0 in 2002 and treated the University at Albany to the same fate in 2003. No conference opponent has scored more than six goals against BU in the past 11 contests.
But Shoemaker said her team must look past such gaudy numbers when they travel south this weekend to square off against the Retrievers (2-7, 1-0), who are 0-4 at home this season.
“UMBC’s a good team, so we need to come down there ready to play,” she said. “We need to be focusing on what we need to do, and really fixing the things that have been a consistent problem in games, and that’s our mental game.”
The Terriers are a young team, a fact that even the players acknowledge has had an affect on their play this season.
“We’re still definitely learning,” Lewis said. “We are young. We still have the rest of the season to figure some stuff out.”
Either way, the Terriers should be excited about the looming return to conference play, led by players such as sophomore attacker Mary Beth Miller, the returning America East Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year Trudel and Defender of the Year Sasha Lang.
According to Trudel, the players will have to look to themselves to fight their way out of the funk.
“If we come out and have surges, coming from Lindsay, coming from other people and the defense comes up with stops, we’re gonna be able to rally behind that and put the ball in the back of the net,” she said.