As the Boston University lacrosse team prepares for its first major tests of the season against No. 6 Loyola College on Friday and No. 15 Johns Hopkins University on Sunday, the 13th-ranked Terriers say they are eager to confront some quality competition.
“We’re ready to play,” said BU coach Liza Shoemaker. “The girls are like horses stuck in the paddock. They’re ready to get out there and go.”
One of the toughest obstacles for BU will be that both the Greyhounds (5-1) and the Blue Jays (6-0) have the upper hand in experience this year. The Terriers have only two games – albeit both victories – under their belts in the 2004 campaign.
“The hardest thing for us is that we’ve only played two games, and these teams are on their seventh games,” said Shoemaker. “But I think we’re ready for some good competition.”
The BU squad has shown glimpses of domination during the 12-9 victory over the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to open the season and the 12-8 win over Monmouth University last Thursday. In both games, the Terriers reeled off at least six unanswered goals to put away the competition before letting their opponents slip back late in the game.
Offensively, BU has benefited from the creativity of freshman attacker Angie Martin, who has amassed six assists in only two games, a feat that earned her this week’s America East Rookie of the Week award. The Maryland-native – one of 10 on the team this year – has been the only freshman to make a spot for herself in the Terriers starting lineup thus far this season.
“We recruited [Martin] to fill a specific role, and she’s done a great job doing it so far,” Shoemaker said.
Against Loyola, the Terriers will seek to avenge last season’s 9-5 loss at the hands of the then-top-ranked Greyhounds, who generally seek to draw their opponents into an up-tempo, offensive game. BU also faces the psychologically daunting task of taking on one of the premier collegiate lacrosse programs in the country.
“[Loyola] is very intimidating,” Shoemaker said. “We just have to realize we can play with them and not let them push us around.
“In the past they’ve been a very fast team, so we’ll have to get out there and slow down their fast break,” she added.
There will be no rest for the weary this weekend – the Terriers have only one day to breathe after the Loyola contest before squaring off against another lacrosse powerhouse in Johns Hopkins, as the two teams meet for the first time ever.
Shoemaker said that the key for Sunday’s game will be BU’s ability to possess the ball in its own zone and create a quick attack with crisp passing to hold off the Blue Jay pressure.
“Against Johns Hopkins, we’re going to have to take care of the ball,” she said. “We can’t afford to make turnovers against them. We have to do a good job of moving the ball from the goalie to the defenders to the attackers.”
The coach was also quick to point out that while mental and physical fatigue might be a factor, it should not be an excuse for a team ranked as highly as 13th in the country.
“Yes, it’s a factor, but I’m not really worried about it,” Shoemaker said of the possible wear and tear the road trip may have on her team. “That’s a part of being a Division I athlete – going out there and being ready to play against the top competition.”
The pair of contests, however, are just two of the 11 road games the team will play this year, as compared to the six it plays at Nickerson Field. Well, 10 – if you don’t count the long trek to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College.
With Martin setting things up for the Terrier offense, junior attacker Alyssa Trudel and sophomores Lindsay Lewis, Kaitlyn Cuneo and Mary Beth Miller, who are all tied for tops in goals on the team with five, will look to power BU to an impressive showing this weekend.
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