Possession problems plague Terriers

The No. 17/20 Boston University lacrosse team jumped out to a 5-2 lead over Boston College midway through the first half of last night’s game at Nickerson Field due in part to the team’s quick and aggressive style of attack. Everything seemed in place for the Terriers to repeat last season’s 13-6 drubbing of the Eagles and extend its five-game winning streak over its crosstown rival.

But BC (9-4, 0-3) wouldn’t allow history to repeat itself and answered BU’s (7-6, 3-0) flashy offense with a much slower and deliberate offensive style of its own that stressed possession much more than forcefully attacking the net.

Unfortunately for the Terriers, their defense was never able to take possession away from the Eagles, allowing the visitors to wear down the home team the rest of the way. Over those remaining 40 minutes, BC outscored BU, 16-6, for the 18-11 victory.

BC senior Costello, who entered the game second in the nation in points per game with 5.5, was the game’s biggest goal-scorer, netting five goals while assisting on three others for a game-high eight points.

At times, Costello was the perfect model for BC’s possession-heavy attack.

Two minutes after the opening draw, she lulled the Terrier defense nearly to sleep before sneaking up on BU senior goalkeeper Rachel Klein. By the time Klein caught eye of her, Costello was already on the doorstep and was able to beat the goalkeeper high for the game’s first goal.

She scored her second of the night at the end of the half again after a lengthy BC possession. Because Costello was in the perfect position to pass behind the net, the Terriers left her unmarked, and the senior took advantage by creeping up on Klein and netting a jump shot from two feet out.

With the Terriers stuck defending Costello and the rest of the reserved BC attack, Klein was rarely given a moment to rest and struggled for most of the night. The co-captain managed to save only five of the 20 shots that she faced and was spelled by freshman Kim Elsworth for 13 minutes in the second half. Elsworth, who had seen only 27 minutes of action entering the contest, didn’t fare well either, allowing three goals on four BC shots.

“It was a rough day in cage for both of our keepers, and you could see that,” Robertshaw said. “I know it says that we had five saves. I want to watch the tape. I don’t know if we did.”

The defenders and goalkeepers weren’t the only players frustrated by the ball being in BC’s basket for most of the second half.

After that early offensive surge, the BU attack was never able to hold the ball long enough to produce much of an offensive output. Even when they were able to gain possession in the second half, the Terriers tried to do too much with the ball, often resulting in a turnover. In fact, BU had twice as many turnovers in the second stanza (6) than they did in the first. In total, BC junior Sheila Serafino needed to make only two saves in the entire second half to ensure the Eagle victory.

“I think offensively we got a little frantic, and we gave away the ball when we shouldn’t have,” said sophomore attacker Catie Tilton, who was a bright spot for BU with a team-high four points after tallying only nine in her previous 12 games. “We should’ve kept taking one-on-ones, but we continued to force it when it wasn’t there. It was just those little mistakes that all added up together.”

This was the first time the Terriers have been frustrated by the Eagles in a long time, but on this night, it was the Eagles who came in with the plan that worked the most effectively.

“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 with their coach and she said, “I wanted this win. It’s a good win.’ They earned it. They came in and earned it.”