The No. 17/20 Boston University women’s lacrosse team was unprepared for a second-half surge by Boston College and eventually fell to the Eagles 18-11 on Nickerson Field last night.
The Terriers (7-7, 3-0 America East) came into the game looking for a third consecutive win after beating BC (9-4, 0-3) in their past five matchups.
“The BU-BC rivalry&-it’s huge,” said junior midfielder Corcoran Downey. “It’s the battle for the city, and we all knew that coming into this game. We knew it was going to be a fight.”
The first half of the game was indeed a back-and-forth battle, as is typical with the rivalry.
“We had some good looks at cage, we scored,” said BU coach Liz Robertshaw. “A couple times we got a little frantic, we wanted to find the open girl and pass it, and it just didn’t happen. . . just dumb turnovers.”
After being down 2-1 at the start, BU came out with four straight goals from senior co-captain McKinley Curro, sophomore attacker Hannah Frey, freshman attacker Kristen Mogavero and senior co-captain Traci Landy.
But BC stormed back, and with 40 seconds left in the half, it took back the lead for the first time since the start of the game on a goal by senior Lauren Costello. BU went into the half down 8-7.
The Terriers opened the half with a goal from sophomore attacker Catie Tilton. After the initial goal, BC answered back with three straight goals, regaining its lead.
“[BC] took the challenges on the crease really well,” Robertshaw said. “I said Costello coming into the game was a big goal scorer and she did her job. I think the kid played great. We didn’t adjust defensively . . . We went out and tried to double, and they took us to cage because our off-ball players did not slide well.”
For a majority of the second half, the Eagles held control of the ball, running stalls and winning the draws. Defensive breakdowns and miscommunication led to BC outscoring BU 10-4.
“I think we struggled a bit defensively,” Downey said. “We had some communication breakdowns. It’s hard to break a stall. It’s hard when they’re standing. They’ve got the ball, you don’t. You’re working as hard as you can to get the ball.”
Typically spectacular senior goalkeeper Rachel Klein had an off day, combining with freshman Kim Elsworth for six saves. BC’s 18 goals are the most goals BU has allowed all season.
“It was a rough day in cage for both of our keepers,” Robertshaw said. “Our goalies weren’t seeing the ball. If you leave a kid open in the middle, they’re going to score. It’s their job.”
Overall, BU could not get its head back into the game in the second half.
“They came on a mission,” Robertshaw said. “We’ve beaten them the last five years in a row. They were tired of it. I talked to their coach and she said, “I wanted this win. It was a good win.’ They earned this win.”
The rivalry definitely affected the overall performance and team pride.
“It’s always a war between these two teams,” said Tilton. “You’ve got to have a lot of pride for your city and play for Boston. Today unfortunately, they came up on top, but we played with heart, and it wasn’t our day.”
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