The Boston University women’s lacrosse team’s impressive six-game winning streak is on the line this weekend when it faces two strong opponents in three days.
The first test will come today when the Terriers travel to Long Island to take on Stony Brook University, with first place in the America East Conference at stake. After Stony Brook, the women return home to host No. 11 Syracuse University on Sunday.
Stony Brook and Syracuse are both going to provide tough opposition, but BU has momentum on their side. After a rough start to the season, the women have put together an impressive string of victories and established themselves as a force to be reckoned with.
Just over three weeks ago, the team entered their game against No. 13 Old Dominion University desperately needing a win. The Terriers had struggled early with a 2-4 record and were coming off three straight losses.
But BU went into the Old Dominion game and pulled off a major upset. BU took the lead in the first half against the nationally ranked opponent and never looked back. The Old Dominion win came on the tail end of a month-long road trip, and BU took the momentum of that win back to Nickerson Field.
The Terriers opened their first homestand of the season with a stifling 13-2 win over Harvard University. Sophomore goaltender Anne Sheridan was strong in net, and the BU offense rewarded her hard work with goals from seven different scorers.
Coming off back-to-back victories, the women opened America East play with a completely dominating performance against Binghamton University. The shooting was on target for BU, ringing up 19 goals on just 25 shots. Binghamton couldn’t get anything going all day and wound up with just one goal and two shots.
BU bettered their performance the next game out, scoring 20 goals and keeping the University at Albany off the scoreboard for just the fifth shutout in BU history. BU got goals from nine different scorers, jumping out to a 2-0 record in conference play. The team also established its longest winning streak since the 2000 season.
The women put their streak to the test the next game out at Brown University. BU came away with a hard-fought 10-8 victory and proved that the winning streak could survive away from Nickerson Field.
The Terriers returned to Nickerson on Wednesday to take on the University of Connecticut. The game was close until halftime, but then BU turned its play up a notch.
‘It was a total team effort out there,’ said BU head coach Liza Shoemaker. ‘If one person made a mistake, 11 other people stepped up and helped them out.’
BU outscored Connecticut 6-1 in the second half en route to its sixth straight win.
In just over three weeks, BU has completely turned their season around. Often playing in chilly air and pouring rain, the Terriers have improved to four games over .500. They are scoring goals, playing strong defense, getting to ground balls and winning every draw in sight.
The offense has been there for BU all season, but over the course of the streak they have diversified their attack. New people are stepping up and putting the ball in the net. BU has also worked on setting up plays instead of relying solely on individual efforts. Against Connecticut, seven of the 11 goals were assisted.
Sophomore Alyssa Trudel led BU in the scoring department against Connecticut with three assists. She has been the most reliable performer for BU throughout the streak. The Vermont native leads the America East in scoring, is the reigning two-time America East player of the week and just became the eighth player in BU history to record 100 points.
But the winning streak hasn’t been about just one player.
‘If you look at our stats, we’re one of the only teams in the nation that has like five or six people that are all scoring in double digits,’ Shoemaker said. ‘It’s not just confidence in yourself but confidence in your teammates and what they’re capable of doing too.’
Despite their confidence, the women have their work cut out for them this weekend. Beyond the winning streak, first place in the conference will mean a lot heading toward the postseason.
‘We want to go down there and kind of welcome them to the America East Conference,’ Shoemaker said.
It won’t be easy to keep the streak alive. Now that the team has gotten a taste for winning, however, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll give that up without a fight.