Oddly enough, today’s game against Brown University will be pressure-free compared to what lies ahead for the Boston University women’s lacrosse team.
The Terriers (9-6, 4-1 America East) will play a rare game against Brown — a team they have not faced in BU coach Sue Murphy’s six-year tenure — before heading into its final regular season contest against Hofstra University on Sunday.
That’s when the fun begins. If Hofstra wins its game against the University of New Hampshire on Friday and BU beats Hofstra on Sunday, there will be a three-way tie for first place heading into the conference tournament. If this scenario plays out, it will be the most beneficial to the Terriers, who will gain the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage based on the strength of their non-conference schedule. After all the smoke clears, the America East tournament will commence May 4 with a bid to the NCAA tournament on the line.
So in light of what’s fast approaching at the week’s end, Brown seems like a walk in the park.
“This is our last chance to play a game without the pressure,” Murphy said. “After this it will be Hofstra and then the conference tournament, and that’s do or die. We’re definitely going after the win [against Brown], but it presents an opportunity to fine tune our play and to gel. I’m actually glad its a non-conference game.”
BU has a chance to do something today that it has not done since the last week of March: win back-to-back games. Even though the Terriers have flip-flopped wins and losses throughout April, so have the Bears. Brown’s last win came back on April 9, a 12-9 victory over Vanderbilt University.
Since then, Brown has lost three straight, all to Ivy League opponents. The most recent setback being a devastating 9-8 loss to the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday. The Bears had an 8-7 lead for most of the second half but collapsed like a cheap tent in the final minutes. The Quakers scored twice in the final 2:20 for the comeback win.
Still, Murphy said as much as today’s game won’t be a burden, it’s not a guaranteed win.
“Brown is a very good team, much improved and very physical. They’ve had an up-and-down year, but they’re an outstanding New England team, and they’ve given a few ranked teams a run for their money. This will not be an easy game,” Murphy said.
And if Brown doesn’t have much going for it on paper compared to BU, it should note the Terriers have turned in woeful performances against Ivy League foes this year. BU lost a heartbreaker to Harvard University on April 14 after it fell hard in overtime to Dartmouth College on March 21.
It seems smart kids can play some lacrosse, too.
Nonetheless, the Terriers have been preparing as usual in practice this week, according to Murphy.
“We’ve been paying attention to both the offense and the defense,” Murphy said. “To be honest, we need some fine tuning on both ends. It’s tough to prepare without knowing what field we have to practice on or where. We practiced on half a field with one cage the other day. But we’re going into this game focused on executing the basics and strengthening our foundations.
“It’s obvious we’ve been up and down lately. Some days we play great defense and we can’t hit the side of a barn on offense, and other days we score 20 goals but we can’t stop anything on defense.”
Brown presents a wealth of opportunity for BU today. The Terriers can improve their record, gain some confidence heading into a game that could make or break the season against Hofstra and work out the kinks all at once.
“This is the time to be peaking, not folding,” Murphy said.
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