After struggling through its last five games, the Boston University lacrosse team found its footing Saturday against the University of Vermont, manhandling the Catamounts en route to a 13-2 victory at Nickerson Field in the squad’s first conference game of the season.
The Terrier offense rampaged through a porous Vermont defense, scoring in virtually every way imaginable. Whether it was junior Alyssa Trudel (a game-high five points) splitting two defenders on an unassisted run through the Vermont defense or junior Kelly Trahon flipping a behind-the-back pass to sophomore Lindsay Lewis (a game-high three goals), BU easily shut the door on the Catamounts (3-5, 0-1 America East).
And then came the second half.
Leading 11-1 at the break, the Terriers (3-5, 1-0) scaled back the attack in the second half, using the second frame as a chance to work on ball control and passing.
“In the second half, we were trying to hold the ball, to work on possession and take a couple of minutes off the clock each time we had it,” said BU coach Liza Shoemaker. “We weren’t trying to run and gun. In a conference game, you don’t need to run the score up. We weren’t trying to bury them. I don’t believe in that.”
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for BU and extended the Terriers’ conference win streak to 13 games.
Although Vermont jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead, the Terriers netted an equalizer two minutes later and held the Catamounts scoreless for the next 56:48.
The offensive outburst was a welcome sight for a young BU team that seemed to lose a lot of its confidence during the skid, and Shoemaker said she hopes the newfound vitality will restore the team’s faith in its own abilities.
“We played with confidence,” she said. “Like the behind-the-back pass by Kelly. That’s what they’re capable of. That’s what they’ve been capable of all year.”
Trahon’s play served as a perfect example of the Terriers’ turnaround after the dismal showing in their 7-5 loss to Boston College last Wednesday. Surrounded by defenders, Trahon saw Lewis unguarded in front of the Vermont goal, but seemingly had no way to get the ball to the team’s leading scorer.
Then, with a quick turn and flick of the wrist, Trahon sent a perfect pass around her back to Lewis, who caught and shot the pass in one fluid motion past Vermont’s helpless goalkeeper to pad BU’s lead to a comfortable 8-1 margin.
Afterward, Trahon said the highlight-reel play was completely unplanned.
“It was kind of spur-of-the-moment,” she said. “It wasn’t anything we had practiced before.”
Shoemaker had her own thoughts on the play, which left her as impressed as anybody else at Nickerson Field.
“After that play, all I know is I said, ‘I didn’t teach her that,'” said the coach, a former All-American at the University of Delaware. “That’s not in the Liza Shoemaker repertoire.”
Trahon’s play was jaw-dropping not just because of the skill needed to make an accurate pass in that situation, but also because it was the only way to get the ball to Lewis.
“It wasn’t showing off, it wasn’t just flashy,” Shoemaker said. “That was the only way she could make that pass.”
Now the main question is whether or not the Terriers can capitalize on the momentum from the win as they head into the second half of their schedule. Even though the victory over Vermont was something BU expected before the season, Trahon said the team will benefit from the added confidence.
“It feels really good to get the win,” she said. “We really needed it. It’s good to win no matter who you are playing against.”
Vermont and the rest of the America East have been at the mercy of the two-time defending conference champion Terriers for the past two years. BU has not lost a conference game since 2002.
Shoemaker said while the team’s dominance is a testament to the players and coaching staff of the Terriers, teams like BU and the University of New Hampshire, the league’s pre-season No. 2 pick, do have certain advantages over schools like Vermont.
“Their teams aren’t fully funded,” she said. “They can’t offer full scholarships. And BU receives a lot of support. I know that Vermont has struggled with their athletic department before.”
BU will take a brief respite from conference play Wednesday when it travels to Cambridge to take on Harvard University. The Terriers will return to the comfort of the America East when they travel to Baltimore to square off against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Saturday.
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