Boston University field hockey has become accustomed to playing in November. For the sixth straight season, the Terriers have qualified for the America East Tournament and will aim for their fourth consecutive conference crown this weekend at the University at Albany. During its run of supremacy, BU has earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament four times, bookended by fourth-place finishes in 2003 and this season.

The Terriers have been a fixture at the America East Tournament for almost two decades. Since 1990, BU has qualified for the conference championship every year except 2002. During their 17-year run of excellence, the Terriers ran the table to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament eight times.

However, history has been less than kind to the Terriers on the national stage. Of all the occasions when BU has won the conference and earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament, only the 1985 Final Four team has won more than its opening-round game. Three of BU’s last four tournament appearances have ended in the second round. This season, the Terriers hope to break that cycle and make a serious run at another Final Four appearance and an unprecedented national championship.

Nifty Nikki sticks it to ’em

An indispensable member of Terrier field hockey this season has been junior transfer Nikki Lloyd. The midfielder has paced BU offensively and collected America East Player of the Week honors twice in the last four weeks.

Hailing from Kent, England, Lloyd transferred to BU after two successful seasons at Virginia Commonwealth University. She totaled 37 combined points on 13 goals and 11 assists as a freshman and sophomore, leading the team in scoring in both 2005 and 2006. Lloyd was also named to the 2006 All-Colonial Athletic Association Second Team.

Since her arrival at BU, Lloyd has made an immediate impact. She got her name in the box score less than a minute into her debut with a goal in a 3-0 season opening win over Northwestern University on Aug. 31. Her first award came soon after, as she earned BU’s Student-Athlete of the Week honor two days later.

Lloyd was limited earlier this season due to injury, but upon her recovery she garnered America East Player of the Week accolades for tallying three goals against Fairfield University and then-No. 19 Providence College on Oct. 11-12. Despite missing four games, Lloyd leads the team in goals (7), points (16), shots (36) and shots on goal (24).

With two game-winning goals and scores in half of the team’s victories, Lloyd has been worth more than her numbers. She has stabilized the Terrier attack amidst a season of inconsistency and led her team to the postseason.

Year of ups and downs

Much like the economy or presidential elections, the Terriers endured many highs and lows during the 2008 regular season. They played both David and Goliath, defeating high-ranked teams and falling to underdogs.

The Terriers had a winning record in the second week of the season, standing at 2-1 on Sep. 7. However, their record did not extend over .500 again until nearly two months later on the final game of the season with a Nov. 1 win over the University of Vermont. During that stretch, the Terriers had several slides, including three straight setbacks in mid-September and a pair of two-game winning streaks separated by a loss.

The highlights of the season have included huge upsets, earning the team a reputation as giant killers. The Terriers defeated the then-No. 8 University of Virginia with a comeback, penalty-stroke victory Sept. 28 and, even more remarkably, shut out the then-No. 6 University of Connecticut on Oct. 22.

Soft spots on the schedule troubled the Terriers at times. A home loss to one-win Old Dominion University on Sept. 27 put the team at a season-low three games under .500. The Terriers also suffered a shocking home loss to the University of Maine for their first home loss in conference play in almost three years. Those games kept the Terriers levelheaded after authoring upset victories of their own.

Ending the regular season with a conference win on the road, BU hopes to carry that stability and momentum into the playoffs.