Another day, another test

The Boston University field hockey team will look to improve its record in its home opener this Saturday against local-rival No. 10 Boston College at Jack Berry Field. The game will be the first in non-tournament play this season for the Terriers.

The Eagles (4-0) most recently defeated the College of the Holy Cross, 6-2, on Sunday, while the Terriers (2-3) lost their second game of the UMass Invitational on Sunday to Big Ten powerhouse, the No. 9 University of Iowa. However, associate head coach Tracey Paul said the Terriers’ plan for Saturday is to stick to the approach they have been using so far.

‘We’ve definitely got some things we need to work on regardless of who we’re playing,’ Paul said. ‘With BC, we’re always respectful, because they are a very talented group of athletes, but [when we prepare for a game] the focus is always on us, not our opponent. We just need to focus on putting the ball in the back of the net. I think we’ve been playing teams statistically evenly, and we’ve been creating scoring opportunities for ourselves. Now we just need to take advantage of our opportunities.’

Paul makes an important point ‘-‘- all of BU’s games so far have been hard-fought and statistically close. The Terriers’ record may not entirely reflect the strength of the team. While they have only won one of their first four games, their opponents have been some of the top teams in their respective conferences, and all but one are currently ranked in the national top 20 ‘-‘- Northwestern University would be No. 21 according to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll. Two of the games ‘-‘- against Northwestern and the No. 15 University of Massachusetts-Amherst ‘-‘- have gone to overtime, and none have been decided by a margin of more than two goals. The Terriers have certainly not been hopelessly outmatched, even against the No. 1 University of Maryland, to whom they lost 2-0.

Among teams also receiving votes on the NFHCA poll, the Terriers currently sit fifth with 42 points ‘-‘- the No. 20 University of Michigan has 75 points. However, if BU intends to remain at the top of America East and prepare to improve upon its performance last year, it will have to defeat BC this weekend and learn not only to compete with, but to outplay, higher-ranked teams.

After playing BC, the Terriers have another local game against unranked Northeastern University, so handing a tough BC team its first loss of the year could give the Terriers some useful momentum going into potentially easier upcoming games against Sacred Heart University and Dartmouth College. And while the Eagles and Terriers do not compete in the same conference ‘-‘- BC belongs to the Atlantic Coast Conference ‘-‘- the two schools are rivals in every sport simply by virtue of their proximity to each other, so any game where they meet is important for both teams. Saturday’s game will surely be an exciting one regardless of the outcome.
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