They earned their spot in The Tournament the hard way. Tuesday afternoon, the Boston University field hockey team beat Central Michigan University, 5-3, in an NCAA play-in game to earn the right to dance.
Behind the support of the unusually loud and large number of Terrier faithful, BU got off to a hot start, dominating early and racking up two goals within the opening eight minutes – both coming off the stick of America East first-teamer sophomore Pam Spuehler. She notched the first score off an assist from sophomore Sarah Hudak, while the second was off an impressive unassisted goal.
Driving in from outside the circle, Spuehler made it look easy, as she crossed multiple defenders and drove the ball into the cage untouched.
BU also dominated on the defensive end, with the ball not coming anywhere near its circle for the first 15 minutes of the first half. Nearly every Central Michigan forward pass was intercepted or deflected, and the Chippewas looked outmatched early. BU took a 3-0 lead when sophomore Hadley Adams redirected a rebound for a goal.
It wasn’t until the 31st minute that Central Michigan got on the scoreboard, when Erica Takach netted a double-assisted goal from Kim Ferris and Samantha Sandham off a penalty corner. The Chippewas continued their offensive surge for five minutes, finishing with a penalty corner that junior goalkeeper Erin Prediger stopped with a diving save.
The Terriers responded with the resolve of a championship team after the Chippewa attack, sending the ball back into CMU territory and never letting it get near their goal for the rest of the half.
“We’ve been doing that all season,” Prediger said. “While they’re still thinking about their goal, we build back momentum.”
With momentum back on their side, the Terriers scored off a corner. This time, it was Spuehler notching the assist as she connected with freshman Lauren Alfaro to take a 4-1 lead into the half. But that wasn’t enough for Terrier coach Sally Starr.
“We never got into the flow of play,” Starr said. “We never did get rhythm. We needed to get our passes in line in the second half.”
The break served the Chippewas well, as they charged out of halftime to score on a high, arcing shot less than a minute in. Once again, the goal came from the trifecta of Takach, Ferris and Sandham.
After being on its heels early in the second frame, BU started pushing the Chippewas back. But Central Michigan would not give up the ground, regaining possession over and over and forcing BU to make some poor passes.
“Their style of play was hard,” Starr said. “We were lunging too much. Our defense wasn’t playing well, but I’ve got to credit Central Michigan.” Even a timeout 15 minutes in couldn’t halt the Chippewa offense. Three minutes later, Allyson Doan scored the third goal, making good on a corner play to bring the score to 4-3.
“We were doing some things we usually don’t do,” Prediger said. “But it’s better to do it now than in a week.”
With its lead slipping away, BU pulled together to once again respond. The Terriers moved the ball into Chippewa territory, and with 12:03 on the clock, junior Amy Seaman redirected a pass from Sarah Hudak into the middle and flipped a shot between the left post and CMU goalkeeper Danielle Frank – a goal that extended the Terrier lead, 5-3.
With time running short and its season on the line, Central Michigan kept pushing the ball forward, nearly scoring. But the Terriers stood firm, keeping the ball outside their circle and forcing long shots.
CMU had one last chance for a goal with 30 seconds left in regulation, but Prediger broke up a two-on-one advantage as time ran out, giving the Terriers their eighth-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2000.
“We have to do a better job of standing strong on our first line of defense to eliminate those two-on-ones,” Starr said.
The Terriers, looking exhausted, did not celebrate after the game, only bending down to collect themselves and show the confidence of a team that expected to move on.
“We didn’t know much about them,” Prediger said, “but we were prepared for anything.”
Before their first game of tournament play, however, the Terriers have some work to do.
“We played well enough to win,” Starr said. “Sometimes it was pretty, sometimes it was ugly, but we got the job done.”
The Terriers are slated to take on the Big Ten champ University of Michigan (15-7) in the first round of tournament play. The game will take place this Saturday at Ohio State University.
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