Instead of taking advantage of what could have been a season-changing win, the No. 15 Boston University field hockey team concluded its non-conference schedule on a sour note yesterday, dropping a 3-0 contest to the No. 4 University of Connecticut.
Despite the fact that the Huskies (13-3) are probably the toughest opponents that the Terriers (9-5) have played this year, BU coach Sally Starr was not content with the result.
“I’m really frustrated right now,” Starr said. “Connecticut is a very good team. They’re one of the top teams in the country, but I really feel that we could have competed much better than we did today. I don’t think we played with discipline. I don’t think we played with energy and urgency. I thought we could have competed a lot better than we did today.”
The loss was not the worst of the Terriers’ season with regard to goal differential &- the team lost to then-No. 5 Michigan State, 6-1, on Sept. 18 &- but the overall effort that the team exuded was certainly less than what it has shown in other games.
In the opening minutes, BU was already on its heels, giving up seven shots and three corners in the first seven minutes. Though the Huskies had not found the back of the net despite their offensive outburst to open the game, they continued to pressure the Terrier defense and sophomore goalie Julie Collins, who started in place of injured senior netminder Amanda Smith.
Because the Terriers could not sustain any offensive momentum when they had the ball, it was only a matter of time before the Huskies found the back of the net.
In the 14th minute and off a long corner, striker Anne Jeute easily dribbled through the BU defense from the right side and took a shot right in front of the goal that broke the deadlock and gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
The Terriers struggled to transition from defense to attack as they had little attacking momentum going into the half.
“We were at our worst when we dribbled too much,” Starr said. “We tried to go individualistic, and we didn’t pass when the pass was there or we went forward and it was clogged. So our individual decision making on the ball, and I also think our tackling was not good today.
“They are a very skilled team. You need to be really aggressive with your tackling but also patient with your tackling. You really need to find a balance between the two, and I think we just went in there and went for the home-run tackle, and it made us look like a cone. You don’t want to look like a cone as a hockey player.”
The majority of the second half was plagued with similar problems. The Terriers fared relatively well in their defensive zone by blocking shots or gaining control of the ball but were unable to translate any initial success into sustained offense. BU’s passes were consistently intercepted by Husky players in the midfield, and oftentimes decisions not to pass led to tackles or turnovers in favor of UConn.
In the 45th minute, Husky back Jestine Angelini tested the BU defense again with a long shot from the top of the circle. The Terriers were up to the challenge, blocking the initial try, but midfielder Alicia Angelini parked herself at the left post of the goal and was the beneficiary of a juicy rebound off of the blocked shot that she promptly tipped into the goal.
The game drifted further and further out of the Terriers’ grasp as time continued to expire and as the Huskies’ time of possession increased. Jeute put the contest all but out of reach for BU with her second goal of the game in the 60th minute when she tipped in an attempt by midfielder Melissa Gonzalez.
Starr called a timeout immediately after the goal to make some adjustments.
“We really wanted to go into a much more aggressive, higher press,” she said. “I really just wanted to talk about playing with discipline. We’ve been really working on passing the ball, getting the ball, passing the ball, particularly finding the horizontal pass right away as opposed to going forward right away. Against a team like UConn, they clog that forward space. But, they were giving us the lateral space, and we were just not being disciplined or making good decisions.”
The changes seemed to work, as the Terriers had two of their best scoring opportunities off corners late in the second half and finished the game pressuring the Huskies in their offensive zone.
“Once we did change the press, we were able to maintain some good attacking field position,” Starr said. “So, in hindsight, I probably should have made that adjustment earlier. But, it really puts us into a high-risk position [on attack]. We can be very vulnerable transitionally when we’re pressing like that. But, when you’re already down, 2-0 or 3-0, it’s a risk that’s worth doing.”
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