The stage was set. Tuesday’s Boston University women’s lacrosse practice was sharper than a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student’s pencil at exam time. Wednesday’s game against Harvard University at Jordan Field saw 50-degree temperatures shining down on its not-frozen-anymore artificial green tundra.
Among a sea of the real green stuff at the Harvard Athletic Complex, where there was about one Crimson athlete (or, at least a study-break baller) for every blade of grass, the Terriers looked to spring into action and put their wintry early-season record behind them.
But, after an overtime game that featured a string of yellow and red cards – and yes, even a green one – the Terriers took the bus home green with envy and in a funk darker than the Charles.
For the sixth time this season – and the second time against an Ivy League team – the Terriers fell short in a non-conference game. They’ve won their only America East game so far this year, a 13-2 dismantling of the University of Vermont last Saturday, but have only two non-conference wins – early season contests against the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Monmouth University – to show for it.
In recent seasons, the Terriers have been the beasts of the America East. The two-time defending conference champs have won 13 straight conference games.
But this year’s Terriers, which feature a group of players that BU coach Liza Shoemaker said are “great athletes,” look about as in-sync as the Backstreet Boys these days. With just as many faces.
“They had an amazing practice yesterday,” Shoemaker said. “It’s disappointing not to see the same team that we saw yesterday. I want you to see the same team I see every day. I want the team to have the same gratification, too – that they work hard in practice and it shows up on the field.”
The first half saw them fall to a 7-4 deficit, as the Crimson kept the temperature from dropping too far by seemingly hitting each shot they took, while the Terriers scrambled from end to end. They could not find any sense of rhythm, as the physical team struggled both to create loose balls and to prevent the referees – who might need to buy new whistles after the game – from summoning too many dogs.
Passes found grass. Shots found air. Defenders found no one, as Crimson attackers sprinted through pressure. Harvard shots bruised the back of the net, as BU goalie Anne Sheridan was bombarded with point-blank opportunities.
After the break, though, BU could have silenced those whistles with the explosion it created. After Harvard upped its lead to 8-4, the Terriers scored four unanswered goals. Suddenly, the women were exactly where they needed to be.
When the ball wasn’t resting in one of their sticks’ pockets, it found its home in the back of the net. Junior midfielder Alyssa Trudel sent the game into overtime with her third goal of the day, before Harvard’s Catherine Sproul scored on a free-position shot in OT to win it for the Crimson.
“Right now, we have those moments of brilliance,” Trudel said. “We need to continue to put 60 minutes of that together. We’ve been having trouble rallying and having a streak … We get disorganized at times, and I think once we’re putting it together from one end to another, we’ll go far this season.”
So, when the Terriers make the trip south to Baltimore to play this year’s conference addition, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, they’ll be looking to continue their trend of being the Beasts of the East.
But, this time, they’ll be playing a new opponent who only has everything to gain. That makes them dangerous, Trudel said. Not to mention that 10 of the women make their homecoming when the team heads to Maryland.
“They’re the newcomers to our conference and they’re going to be the biggest threat,” she said, “so we gotta go out and take it to them and represent. We’re two-time defending champions.”
But, if history means anything, America East games mean scoring droughts get their last rites. In their last six conference games, the Terriers – who are averaging 9.3 goals per game – have outscored their opponents 101-17, a goalie-helmet-melting 16.8 average.
Or, just enough to stop being blue. And turn red hot.
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