Senior co-captain Sarah Dalton and junior Traci Landy each scored five goals to lead the No. 12 Boston University lacrosse team to a 12-6 victory over Yale University yesterday in New Haven, Conn.
Freshman Hannah Frey and senior co-captain Steph Walker both posted a goal apiece to help the Terriers (4-3) rise above .500 after they lost three games in a row over spring break. The Bulldogs fall to 2-5 on the season, dropping their first game of the year on their home turf.
‘I think we took those games against Vanderbilt, Syracuse and Penn – the tough competition – and I think we learned from them,’ BU coach Liz Robertshaw said. ‘We brought those adjustments, especially defensively, to the last two games. We’re much more aggressive. I think we’re taking more chances, and I’ve seen the confidence come back to the team.’
The Terriers came out of the gates attacking, scoring just five minutes into the game with Landy’s first of the game. Two minutes later, BU notched two more points within 10 seconds of each other with goals from Frey and Dalton, respectively.
But Yale caught back up, scoring three straight to answer the Terriers’ opening goals. With the game deadlocked at 3-3, it was anybody’s afternoon. But the Terriers closed out the first half ahead, 5-3, with back-to-back goals on Dalton’s second tally of the game and Walker’s third notch of the season.
The Terriers poured on the steam to start the second half, scoring four straight to shut the door on the Bulldogs. The teams then traded goals to end the game. Junior Erica Baumgartner and sophomore Corcoran Downey also recorded assists for the Terriers.
Dalton leads the Terriers offensively so far this season, scoring a staggering 30 goals in just seven games. She also recorded two assists against Yale, increasing her point total to 35. Junior Xan Weitzel added an assist yesterday, remaining in second place on the team in scoring (27 points). Landy’s five goals and one assist yesterday land her in third place with 20 points so far.
‘[Dalton] boosts the confidence of the entire team, and she is someone that we rely on,’ Robertshaw said. ‘When we were having a little bit of a close competition [yesterday] and we needed to score a goal, I can look to Sarah and say ‘Hey, we need that goal.’ She responds very well. She is stepping up and is being a great senior captain for us in that way.’
Junior co-captain Rachel Klein demonstrated why she earned America East Defender of the Week honors for last week, stopping six of the 17 shots Yale sent her way.
‘[Klein] had a big game and really brought some nice saves to the table,’ Robertshaw said. ‘Because she was playing with a lot more confidence and because she was making those big saves, our defenders could go out and take a lot of risks. She really started it off, and the defense rallied behind it.’
Even though the Terriers outshot their opponent, 30-17, Robertshaw was not completely satisfied with her team’s offensive performance.
‘I’d like to say that it’s good to shoot that many shots in a game because I think it is, but today I wasn’t really happy with our shooting percentage,’ Robertshaw said. ‘We missed a lot of shots that we could have scored on. While I like that we’re taking shots and I like that we’re hustling for the ball and really dominating the play in today’s game, I would have liked to see a little bit better scoring percentage and scoring output from the team.’
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