It has been a tale of two halves for the No. 15 Boston University field hockey team thus far in the season. After they completed another perfect weekend and moved to 4-0 for the first time since 1987, it is hard to find fault with the team. They have consistently outscored, outshot and out-defended their opponents. However, after their last game against University of Massachusetts-Amherst, it has become clear which of the two halves have favored the Terriers four games into the season.
The first.
The Terriers have outscored opponents 7-1 in the first half this season compared to just 3-1 in the second frame. What is perhaps even more impressive is the Terriers' shots-on-goal differential between the two periods as they hold a 28-9 shot advantage in the first 35 minutes just a 26-16 advantage in the latter 35.
At no time was BU's bipolar nature between the two periods more evident than in Sunday's 2-1 win over the Minutewomen. UMass actually outshot BU 6-4 in the second frame after being thrashed in that category 9-1 earlier. However, it was UMass's six total penalty corners that drew the ire of BU coach Sally Starr.
"Some [of UMass' corners] were earned, and I think some were not earned," Starr said. "I think those penalty corners that they had made the game feel more pressured than it actually was...Watching the video tape, we just stopped playing simple hockey. We just stopped moving the ball effectively and I think that allowed them to get a few more scoring opportunities."
In its own offensive end, BU failed to produce a single corner of its own in the second frame, another fact not on lost on Starr.
"We need to do a little bit better job of creating our own corners," Starr said. "We just didn't create the opportunities that they created after crossing the 25. We're creating opportunities through the midfield, but we need to be a little more intelligent as we're entering our attacking 25 and making sure we're getting positive play off of that. We need to make sure we're getting the shot, or getting the corner, or the goal-scoring opportunity. That's the biggest thing that we need to improve."
However, despite the Terriers' relative inefficiencies in their offensive end, the player perhaps most affected by BU's near Jekyll-and-Hyde nature in the second half is sophomore goalkeeper Julie Collins. Collins has split time in front of the net with senior Amanda Smith.
As part of Starr's rotation, Smith has received each of this season's four starts while Collins has been called on to relieve her in the second half. Unfortunately for Collins, that means receiving the brunt of the opposing attack, as evidenced by the UMass game in which she was forced to make three saves on four shots on goal. By comparison, Miller was not tested once as she was not needed to make a single save in the first half.
"[Collins made some] very quality saves," Starr said. "They were definitely peppering us there for that little flurry of corners that they had. They got some shots off. I think the defense is doing a good job of putting the shooters under pressure so that they're not able to target the shots as well as they might like to. I think Julie definitely came up with some big saves for us in that stanza of play."
On Friday against No. 7 Boston College, Collins and the rest of the Terriers will need to be on top of their game in the second half if they are to achieve the ultimate upset. The Eagles, whose goals (five) and shots (26) are exactly the same between the first and second halves, are not nearly as wavering in their play as their Comm. Ave. cousins. But those statistics don't have Starr quivering at all; in fact, she's predicting an exciting matchup from beginning to end.
"Two Boston teams, two teams that are undefeated," Starr said. "To me, that's a formula for a great hockey game on Friday night."
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