For the second time in four years, the Boston University lacrosse team will host the America East Championship on Nickerson Field. Before the No. 9/11 Terriers (13-2, 6-0 AE) can do so, however, they will try for their 11th straight win in a place they have never won.
Traveling to Hanover, N.H., to face Dartmouth College (7-6) this afternoon, BU coach Liz Robertshaw hauls a power-packed offense and equally-as-dominant defense north of the Massachusetts border looking to erase the memories of her teams’ last three visits to Scully-Fahey Field.
Losers of three in a row at Dartmouth – three bouts in which they failed to hit double-digits on the scoreboard – the Terriers’ chances to reverse their scoring troubles have never been better.
As the team with the best overall shooting percentage in program history, BU needs little in the way of motivation for its last game of the regular season.
“We have never beaten them there,” Robertshaw said. “They are always a good challenge. There is something about our games. Dartmouth is always a hard fought one.”
This evening won’t be the first time the Terriers have faced the Big Green this season, as the two clicked sticks last fall in a preseason scrimmage in October.
While the outcome was neither recorded nor counted, the game is far off in any of the players’ minds.
“We played them in the fall,” Robertshaw said. “Fall ball doesn’t count, but it was a battle. The girls remember that. We’re excited to go up there and bring our game to them and show them what we can do.”
The Big Green will most likely have to contend with a barrage of shots from inside the 12-meter mark. The Terriers are tops in America East in shots on goal over the last five weeks and are starting to gel on the creative front late in the season.
Reading each other’s off-ball progressions yielded the Terriers a 14-5 win at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County last Saturday, and Robertshaw’s front eight have not slowed their creative roll.
“We’ve worked on a little more ball movement and creativity this week,” Robertshaw said. “That was our focus [yesterday] and [Monday] in practice. The girls are getting much better at communicating with one another.”
On Robertshaw’s offensive radar is the Terriers’ shooting, understanding that a non-conference bout on the heels of a flawless conference season leaves no room for a casual shooting performance.
“That’s something I’ve been preaching to the girls,” Robertshaw said. “We need to keep on the shooting. If they are good at getting off good shots and taking good chances, it makes the game easier and leaves every girl walking on the field with a little more confidence.”
Confidence, at least in the defensive zone, isn’t unfamiliar to redshirt sophomore Rachel Klein and senior co-captain Molly Collins.
Anchors of America East’s top defense in goals against and caused turnovers, Klein and Collins lead a unit that’s success can be measured by its strengthened communication.
“We have worked a lot on communication and recovery,” Robertshaw said. “We’re great at double teams, but we need to make sure we recover back to the middle and protect [Klein].”
For Collins and fellow senior co-captain Lauren Morton, the trip to Hanover will be their last regular season road trip. Over a week removed from their Senior Day ceremony on Nickerson Field, the seniors will finally get a chance to throw the proverbial Dartmouth monkey off their backs before graduation.
“I think they are really excited,” Robertshaw said. “I think it would be a little more emotional if it wasn’t Dartmouth, but this game just brings out excitement. They love playing it and it gets us ready for the post season. To end the regular season with a team they have history with brings a whole other element to the game.”
