Friday afternoon, as the Boston University field hockey team was set to begin its America East semifinal game against the University of New Hampshire, captain Sarah Hudak’s father was patrolling the sidelines.
Clapping his hands, Bill Hudak faced the Terrier contingent and exclaimed to the fans, “Nothing like the postseason.”
Nothing like the postseason, indeed, as these Terriers can tell you. For the third year in a row, BU won the America East Tournament with a 4-1 triumph over the University at Albany yesterday after disposing of UNH with a 5-2 victory in the semifinal game.
After the championship was in the books, as the Terriers (17-5) celebrated their three-peat at midfield, BU coach Sally Starr walked over to tournament MVP Pam Spuehler and said, “We did it, with an exclamation mark.”
For a senior group that is the winningest class in program history, it was only fitting that those seniors walked off the field as the Terriers’ first-ever three-time conference champions.
“It’s awesome,” Starr said. “I’ve used the analogy of a turtle all season with this team. We had a couple games we should have won early in the year, but I said it’s the finish line we’re trying to get to.
“I used the turtle analogy again today. The turtle’s head is up right now and it’s seeing the beacon, it has got its eyes on the prize, but the turtle dodged a few cars in the first half. There was a couple almost-road-kills, but we did a great job staying alive, and its head is coming further and further out of its shell right now.”
The final conference victory did not come easy for the Terriers. After dismantling UNH, Albany grabbed an early lead off a penalty corner with 13:49 remaining in the first half.
“Albany played a great game. That scoreboard is not indicative of the battle that was on this field,” Starr said. “The score, though, is indicative of the courage and the confidence that our team had. Coming up with big goals, they had to fight for every inch of field that they got today. I’m just really, really proud of how we kept our composure.
“We just kept battling and battling and battling because I’ll tell you, Albany was a formidable opponent with a capital ‘F.’ We really had to elevate our level of hockey to have this result today, and that’s what you want in competition. It brings out your best, and Albany brought out our best today.”
The Terriers’ best turned out to be four unanswered goals.
Just more than a minute after Albany took the lead, sophomore forward Gabby Hajjar knotted the score at one off a Terrier corner.
In the second half, the Albany offense that had stifled the Terriers early in the first was overtaken by BU’s aggressive second-half attack, which generated three more goals as the defense shut down the Great Danes.
Spuehler broke the 1-1 tie nine minutes into the second half, collecting a pass from sophomore midfielder Suus Dekker at the top of the circle and ripping a shot to the boards for the score.
Hajjar chipped in again with more than 12 minutes remaining in the game, giving the Terriers the go-ahead score on a highlight-reel goal. After collecting a pass from Spuehler at the top of the circle, Hajjar dove and slammed a cross-field shot into the back of the Albany net.
Senior forward Hayley Hamada put the exclamation mark on the win in the 66th minute, with a goal off Spuehler’s second assist of the game.
The Terrier offense was complemented by an unshakable defensive unit, which allowed one shot in the second half and featured a fantastic goalkeeping performance from freshman Kim Kastuk (3 saves).
“It’s awesome, just as a team,” said Spuehler, a two-time tournament MVP. “This has been our best season, and we just keep getting better and better, so it’s really just the best feeling. It’s the best thing that could have happened. I can’t even describe it, and we didn’t expect less.”
Spuehler joined Dekker, senior Sarah Shute and junior Holly Wiles on the tournament’s All-Conference team.
The Terriers find out who their opponent will be in the opening round of their 10th NCAA Tournament appearance tomorrow at 10 p.m.