The No. 14 Boston University field hockey team opened its season with a bang Sunday, soundly defeating the Northwestern University Wildcats, 3-0, at Jack Barry Field.

“With pretty much half a new team starting, winning against a Big Ten [Conference] opponent is always a good result, particularly for such a young team,” BU coach Sally Starr said.

The Terriers took an early lead, as junior midfielder Nikki Lloyd, a transfer from Virginia Commonwealth University, put BU on the board 45 seconds into the game. She gathered a loose ball to the right of the net and took it to the front before backhanding it into the right side of the net.

At 9:04, junior Gabby Hajjar, the Terriers’ leading returning scorer, added to the lead when she weaved through several Wildcat defenders before sliding a shot past Northwestern goalie Emily Kyle, who had one save.

BU (1-0) made it a three-goal lead 16 minutes later. Senior tri-captain Hayly Ross took a pass on the left side and sent a bouncing pass out front, where redshirt freshman Kali Cardoza tipped it in for her first collegiate goal.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kim Kastuk saved both shots on goal as the Wildcats’ scoring chances were few and far between. 

“Getting the shutout is definitely something to be happy about,” Starr said. 

While BU outshot the Wildcats, 5-4, Northwestern (0-2) held an 8-4 advantage in penalty corners, a statistic Starr was none too pleased about. 

“We need to improve our circle defense,” Starr said. “We gave up way too many corners. That is just being sloppy, defensively – not doing things you need to do and not being disciplined.” 

Next up for the team is this weekend’s Blue Hen Classic in Newark, N.J., where BU will face the Temple University Owls and the University of Delaware Blue Hens.  

But regardless of the strong start, Starr realizes the importance of pacing.

“It’s the first game and we have a team with plenty of veterans who understand the need to take it one practice and one game at a time and just keep improving throughout the season,” Starr said.  

“Right now, it is just September and we have eight, nine, 10, hopefully 11 more weeks of the season to go. We were able to pull out a quality victory, but almost every area of the game needs work for sure.”