The Boston University field hockey team knocked off the UMass-Amherst, 2-0, Sunday en route to a 3-4 record on the season and a spot back on the winning track. Though it was an all-around good day for the Terriers, it was even sweeter for coach Sally Starr, as the win was the 300th of her BU career.
In her 26th season at the helm of the BU field hockey program, Starr reached the milestone victory in what she considered a classic Terrier win-a team effort.
“I’ve been very fortunate,” Starr said. “I’ve had some good teams here and being here for 26 seasons really helps.”
Over the past 26 years, Starr has compiled an impressive resume both at BU and in her two years coaching at Bucknell University in 1979 and 1980. She boasts a career record of 316-205-21, fifth all-time among Division I coaches, along with a career BU record of 300-192-19.
“I’ve really just been fortunate to have some great athletes,” Starr said.
Her tenure at BU includes an incredible list of achievements. Starr has taken her program to eight NCAA Tournaments, three ECAC tournaments, the 1987 ECAC championship, five America East championships, eight America East regular-season titles and 10 America East title game appearances.
As if that wasn’t enough, Starr has had only three losing seasons throughout her entire time at BU, and since 1985, her teams have finished the season ranked among the top 20 in the nation 14 times and among the top 10 six times.
“I can’t say that I thought [when I took the job] that I would have this much success,” Starr said. “I thought that we could be successful and become one of the top teams in the country, and that has definitely come true for me.”
Sibling Rivalry
Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the University of Iowa was a contest of a different kind for BU junior Laura Dean. The Terrier back from Delaware squared off against her younger sister Tricia for the first time in her career. Tricia, a freshman at Iowa, has been a standout for the Hawkeyes so far this season.
“It was nice to play against her. I’d never actually played against her before so it was quite interesting,” Laura Dean said. “It was great because I got to see her, but at the same time, I’m never going to live this [loss] down.”
A midfielder for the Hawkeyes, Tricia has started all nine games Iowa has played this season, with one goal, scored in a 5-1 victory over Kent State University.
“Laura is a defensive minded player and Tricia is more of a midfield-attacking player,” Starr said. “They have very different playing styles, which is a good thing, because they can compete against each other, but not really.”
Laura is a standout defenseman for the Terriers who, last season, helped BU maintain its streak of 418 minutes without allowing a goal, leading to an eight game win-streak.
The sibling rivalry was probably hardest on their parents, as they were noticeably conflicted over who to cheer for.
“They sat in the middle of the sidelines with neutral colors on,” Dean said. “They kind of just said ‘Good job, everyone.'”
Rookie Earning Her Stripes
Red-shirt freshman Gabby Hajjar had quite a weekend for herself, and now she has the award to prove it.
Hajjar earned America East Rookie of the Week honors Monday, coming off a strong performance in both Saturday and Sunday’s games. Starting in her first two games of the season and of her Terrier career Hajjar did not disappoint, scoring the game-winning goal for the Terriers in Sunday’s game.
In the sixth minute of Sunday’s game against UMass, Hajjar redirected a shot from teammate Hayley Hamada into the net for her first career goal.
Coming off knee surgery in her final year of high school, Hajjar red-shirted her freshman year in order to return full-strength this season for BU.
“We feel she has the capability to be an outstanding college player,” Starr said. “She proved herself a lot Sunday, in a big game. She got a big goal that turned out to be the game winner.
“She just earned a starting position, so we’re excited to see what she can do,” she continued.