As Boston University field hockey coach Sally Starr reflected on her team’s 2006 campaign last year, she knew the team’s success over the past two years simply wasn’t enough.
After two consecutive quick exits from the NCAA tournament, the goal now, Starr said, is not to simply make it to the tournament but to march on to the later rounds.
“It’s the beacon out there and that’s what we’re headed toward,” Starr said. “If we really can keep our sight on the day to day things that we need to do in practice and being very careful that our focus is just on the next game right now.
“We want to get better and better and better each opportunity that we have. If we keep our focus where it needs to be, then I think that beacon that we set for ourselves is definitely very attainable,” she added.
Assembling an unusually veteran squad this year, the field hockey team returns eight starters from last year’s team, which was ousted by the University of Connecticut in the first round of the tournament — an experience the Terriers hope to use to their advantage.
The Terriers have the proverbial bullseye on their backs, having been picked to finish as conference champs for the third straight year.
Offense
The Terriers will look to build on an offense that broke a BU record by having 14 different players tally a goal.
“There’s a lot of confidence, a lot of camaraderie,” Starr said. “We have a lot of talent and a lot of kids who are working hard to really increase their playing time and that’s a healthy situation.”
Returning forwards Sarah Shute, Hayley Hamada, and Hadley Adams will be looking to alter their offensive approach from last season.
“We’re really working hard to be more multi-faceted in how we can score. Last year a lot of our goals were created by deflections and rebound situations,” Starr said. “We need to be better goal scorers just coming into that circle and firing away.”
No matter the approach, one thing is for sure — this team won’t have trouble scoring. Aside from a strong group of forwards, BU boasts a strong offensive weapon in reigning rookie of the year Suus Dekker at midfield. Along with Dekker, All-American senior Pam Spuehler provides a spark on both ends of the field.
Goalies
Two Terrier rookies have been impressive through the first four games of the season in filling a vacancy in net for the first time in four years. With the graduation of Erin Prediger’s, a stalwart in the BU net for four seasons, redshirt freshman Amanda Smith and true freshman Kim Kastuk have been asked to shoulder the load. Although Kastuk has gotten the nod to start in the first four games, Starr will likely be making a game-time decision as to her netminder throughout the season.
“This time last year, we had Kim committed to us and we really felt that she was one of the top goalie prospects in the country at that time, and that’s really proven to be true with her success that she’s had nationally this summer,” Starr said. “She’s really gone from not being really on the radar screen to rising to be one of the top two goalies of her age group.
“Amanda’s been a pleasant surprise,” she added. “She’s really created a situation because of how coachable she is and how athletic she is. [We’re going to be] in a situation where game to game we have tough choices to make and we’re re-evaluating game to game.”
Defense
Strong defense is normally a Terrier staple, and even after a 2006 season in which the team recorded seven shutouts, there’s reason to believe the defense has improved this year.
Most noticeably, the addition of senior tri-captain Sarah Hudak to the right defensive side has brought even more experience to the strong line. Hudak, who spent much of her career as a left midfielder, made the move to right back last spring and has had great success playing the attacking defensive position.
“Hudak is an excellent two-way player,” Starr said. “She’s a very good defender, but she’s also a good attacker and we really feel that we can utilize her attacking skills much more down the right side.”
Joining Hudak on defense are returning starters senior Laura Dean and last year’s most-improved player, junior Lizzie Perreault. The last three America East Rookies of the Year, Dekker, Spuehler and junior Holly Wiles, help anchor the midfield.
Although the defense will be feeling the pressure of having a rookie goalie in net, Starr is optimistic the experienced defense will push her two rookie goalies to the next level.
“I think for our defense we have a lot of experience there with the exception [being] in goal, but we have a lot of talent with Kim and Amanda. I feel that the experience in front of our goalies will really help our goalies to be successful and to get the experience that they need,” Starr said.