The No. 15 Boston University field hockey team knows its history, but Fairfield University and Dartmouth College were the teams doomed to repeat theirs.
After compiling 5-0 and 10-1 all-time records against Fairfield and Dartmouth, respectively, the Terriers (9-4, 2-0 America East) defeated the Stags 4-0 Saturday afternoon and the Big Green 4-1 Sunday afternoon to continue both winning trends.
Prior to the game against Fairfield (7-6, 0-2 AE), BU coach Sally Starr was honored by the BU athletic department for her 30 years of service to the field hockey program.
“I feel very blessed to have been here for 30 years, to do something that I love for 30 years, and to be surrounded by wonderful people,” Starr said afterwards, admitting that the ceremony caught her off guard and made her “a little teary eyed.”
Once the game started, BU did not waste any time getting on the scoreboard, as sophomore forward Leslie Zules connected with junior forward Andrea Greene four-and-a-half minutes into the game for the team’s first goal. Just 10 minutes later, the pair connected again to put BU up 2-0.
Sophomore fullback Jacinda McLeod added a goal of her own late in the first half, and Greene completed her hat trick early in the second half with the Terriers’ fourth and final goal.
“She was in the right place at the right time and had the poise to finish the shot,” Starr said of Greene’s three-goal performance.
Starr was pleased with several aspects of the win, two of which were jumping ahead early in both halves and the Terriers’ ability to pass. Starr called BU’s first half “a clinic in passing.”
“We want to come out at the start of the game, and we want to come out at halftime really setting a tone that we’re ready to play the game,” Starr said. “And our stringing of five, 10, 12 passes together was excellent.”
On Sunday, the team got goals from four different players, two of whom scored on penalty corners, while allowing just one as it topped Dartmouth (8-3) by the score 4-1.
Senior goalkeeper Amanda Smith made three saves to keep the game in the Terriers’ favor, and Greene added yet another goal to up her team high to 11. Greene capped the scoring for the Terriers when she stole the ball and dribbled through everyone&-including Dartmouth goalkeeper Meagan Vakiener&-before tapping it in late in the second half.
Greene’s performance this weekend was special for her, but not because she scored half of her team’s goals. For the first time since arriving at BU, the Chile native’s family visited Boston and was able to watch her play as a Terrier in person.
“They are really proud that I am doing well,” Greene said. “So to be able to see it with their own eyes and getting to score for them was great.”
Despite her team’s very good record against Dartmouth in the past, Starr did not put much stock into past successes against a team because a team can change vastly from year to year.
“Every year is a new year, every year is a new team,” Starr said. “Dartmouth is a much improved team. They play a really fast pace so I knew today was really going to be a competitive match, and I was really proud and really pleased with the result we got.”
The Terriers’ success this weekend was especially impressive because the team was without two of its starters. Sophomore fullback Rachael White and junior midfielder Giovanna Monaco missed both games, but Starr said they hope to be back in time for next Saturday’s matchup against the University of New Hampshire.
“I think everybody stepped up,” Starr said. “It’s nice when you’re without two starters, two quality players like that, and you can still play an excellent hockey game.”
With the wins, the Terriers swept a weekend series for the first time since early September, which was especially important, according to Starr, because it was the team’s last chance to do so in the regular season.
“[Two wins in two days] feels good. It feels really good,” Starr said. “We have to be able to play back to back to win our conference tournament, so I was anxious to see how we were going to do. I think it’s given us a lot of confidence physically and mentally.”
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