The Boston University field hockey team continued its quest for a position in the America East Tournament with key road games against conference foes the University of Vermont and the State University of New York at Albany this weekend. The Terriers returned home on Sunday with a weekend split and their postseason status still up in the air.
Friday, the Terriers (11-7, 2-2 America East) traveled to Burlington, Vermont, to face a Catamount team that had not beaten BU in nearly 20 years. That streak came to an end with Vermont (6-11, 2-2 America East) coming out on top in a thrilling game that was decided in a penalty strokeoff.
Vermont jumped out to an early lead when senior Kristen MacDonald beat senior goalkeeper Susan Harrington 86 seconds into the game, putting the Catamounts up 1-0. That score held until junior forward Dalinda Banuelos took a pass from junior defender Whitney Peabody and found the back of the net, knotting the score at one.
After neither team could score again in regulation or the overtime period, the game went to a penalty strokeoff. Junior forward Molly Sheehan scored on Vermont’s first penalty stroke, while junior forward Celeste Hubbard failed to convert for BU. The two teams traded goals in the next round of penalty strokes, with MacDonald scoring for the Catamounts and freshman forward Kara Rossi answering for the Terriers.
Strong goaltending on both sides dominated the rest of the strokeoff as Vermont held on to its 2-1 edge to earn the victory.
On Sunday the Terriers took a trip to Albany, New York, for an important conference game against the last place Great Danes. Faced with a must-win situation, the Terriers responded with a resounding 5-0 victory and salvaged the team’s hopes of qualifying for postseason play.
Hubbard opened the scoring for BU with an unassisted goal at 20:39. The Great Danes kept it close for the first half, which ended with the Terriers up, 1-0. The Terriers then exploded for three goals over a 12-minute stretch in the second half to put the game out of reach.
Already up 2-0 from Hubbard’s second unassisted goal of the game, her 11th goal of the season, the Terriers put forth one of their most impressive stretches of hockey all season long. Banuelos scored two goals in a span of two minutes, the first on a penalty stroke and the second on an unassisted goal on a rebounded that put BU up, 4-0, with 27 minutes left to play.
Ten minutes later freshman Forward Caitlyn Cassara scored her first collegiate goal, capping off the Terriers’ 5-0 victory.
The Terriers are currently in fourth place in the America East Conference, but must defeat No. 7 Northeastern University on Saturday in order to qualify for the America East Championship. If the Terriers lose that pivotal game against the Huskies, Vermont will earn the fourth seed and knock BU out of postseason play.
The Terriers’ next game is a non-conference game against No. 15 Harvard University Wednesday at MIT’s Jack Barry Field.
