It’s rare in the world of sports for a 19-2 loss on the last night of a regular season to mean absolutely nothing. But before the men’s lacrosse game even started last night between the University of Rhode Island and Boston University, the Terriers had assured themselves a fifth seed in Wednesday’s playoffs and an opportunity to win the Pioneer League championship.
The last few games on the schedule have been tough for the Terriers. Including the win over the Coast Guard Academy last week, BU has been outscored, 23-8, in its last two games, while bringing only 14 team members to play in each contest. The Terriers are still close to .500 at 4-6 on the season, but they are a weak 1-2 in their last three matches.
Are the Terriers a playoff caliber team? Yes. They proved this season they have the skill to play with any opponent. However, last night’s debacle against the Rams has brought problems to the forefront — on the eve of the playoffs — that were not evident at the onset of the season.
With a roster of more than 40 stoked college athletes, getting guys to make road trips to away games on weeknights would be easy, right? Wrong. BU has taken only 14 players to each of its last two games and it seems that instantly, an obvious concern has been made clear.
One of the basics in team competition is that a coach has to have an abundance of players at his disposal to teach and manage as a team unit. BU head coach Daniel Morris is now struggling to dress the minimum number of players allowed by rule. It’s not just an isolated incident — it has happened two games in a row.
Junior goaltender Brad Dynowicz is certainly more talented than the 19 goals he gave up to Rhode Island last night. Although the co-captain was obviously proud his team will play in the postseason, he expressed concern at the lackadaisical approach many of his teammates seem to have placed on their commitment to the fraternity of the team.
“I never would have thought that the number of [players] would be a problem,” he said last night. “Today, we played with no attackmen. If we had our squad out there and we play like I know we can, we could beat them. URI is just a very, very good team. We didn’t have the personnel to match up with them today, and we didn’t execute well.”
Dynowicz seems to have every right to be upset. BU didn’t bring any forwards to face Rhode Island last night. Dynowicz and the rest of the defense could not have played with much confidence knowing that the weight of the game was almost entirely on their shoulders. Had it not been for sophomore midfielder Steve Hammel’s two goals, BU would have been shut out.
After an early-season loss, attackman and senior co-captain Mitch Wilson said it was very difficult to win a lacrosse game only scoring eight goals. Imagine what the 14 Terrier players felt last night only mustering two.
“I don’t think that some guys gave the same level of commitment as others,” Dynowicz said.
While absences usually occur for valid reasons, team members like Dynowicz start to worry when 25 players don’t show up for a game on the last day of the regular season.
“I’m a little skeptical of it all,” Dynowicz said. “I don’t recall ever missing [a game] because of a class. A lot of the young guys don’t understand the level of commitment. An hour of class is not that big of a deal. There’s just a lack of commitment.”
Yet BU has to concentrate on its next opponent in Northeastern University, who has beaten BU twice already this year. The first defeat was a 10-5 decision, and the second contest was an 11-10 Husky overtime victory. Northeastern is the fourth seed in the playoffs and stands at 8-2 on the year. “Northeastern has a very talented offensive player and a very good goalie,” Dynowicz said. “It could be a defensive battle or a shootout.”
He also stressed ball control, offensive production and player personnel as keys to victory.
“It’s all depending on us — not how they play, but how we play,” Dynowicz said. “They finally put together a good team, a team on equal footing with us, and it puts the rivalry on a new level. We’ve knocked them out of the playoffs the last three years in a row, and we are probably the last team they wanted to see.”
Expect defenseman Brad Eisen to make his return from a nagging MCL injury on Wednesday. He said that the long sticks would be a factor determining a BU win.
“[We have] to hold their two attackmen down and have our offense hold on to the ball,” Eisen said. “Long sticks are going to have to play a good game making sure Northeastern doesn’t get possessions and fast breaks. NU is best when there is an unsettled situation.”
Also returning from injury is sophomore Zac Fermanis, who is BU’s top face-off man according to Eisen. Sophomore Timothy Blount will not be ready for Wednesday’s game and may miss the rest of the playoffs.
The other first round game features No. 3 seed University of Connecticut taking on No. 6 Bridgewater State College. Rhode Island and the University of New Hampshire are the top two seeded teams and earned first-round byes. The semifinals are on Friday at the field of the higher seeded school.
The Terriers’ next contest will be played at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
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