The Boston University lacrosse team, fresh off a victory over Brown University on March 1, came up short in its effort to piece together its first win streak of the season, falling 15-11 to No. 19 College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
Sophomore attack Danielle Etrasco registered six points for the Terriers (1-2) in the form of three goals and three assists, but it was ultimately not enough as the ranked Tribe (2-1) got revenge on a BU team that has beaten them in each of the past two seasons.
Three William & Mary players – midfielder Grace Golden, attack Maggie Anderson and attack Taelor Salmon – produced team-high four-point games en route to their second win of the young season.
Despite the loss, BU got the scoring for the day started as junior attack Molly Swain received a pass from Etrasco and fired the ball past Tribe goalkeeper Emily Geary to give the Terriers an early 1-0 lead with 28:45 left in the first half.
However, William & Mary quickly responded to BU’s early threat by converting on two free-position shots, the first coming from midfielder Katie Stillwell and the second from Salmon, to take a 2-1 lead with 25:49 remaining in the half. The Tribe would not trail for the rest of the game from that point forward.
Less than a minute later, BU answered the pair of William & Mary goals with a goal of its own from junior attack Hannah Frey off an assist from junior attack Catie Tilton to even the game at two goals apiece.
The Tribe then proceeded to break the tie with another set of consecutive goals, this time coming from Anderson, then Golden, the latter of whom was unassisted. The 2-2 score with 24:08 remaining marked the last time in the game that William & Mary did not lead.
After BU closed the William & Mary lead to 5-4, the Tribe used the remaining 17:37 of the half to go on a 5-2 run – spearheaded by two goals apiece from Anderson and Salmon – to take a 10-6 lead into the half.
Sophomore midfielder Kristen Mogavero scored an unassisted goal in the opening minutes of the second half to close the deficit to three.
But the Tribe, as they did for seemingly the entire game, responded quickly and effectively to any sort of threat from the Terriers.
In just under five minutes, William & Mary scored four unanswered goals, three of which came on free position shots, to extend its lead to 14-7 and effectively put the game out of reach for BU with 22 minutes remaining.
Along with Etrasco’s game-high six points for the Terriers was a three-point effort from Swain, who tallied two goals and an assist.
Against a top-20 William & Mary team, BU’s effort was at least partially undone by an unusual number of fouls. For the game, the Terriers committed 57 fouls – 13 of which came from senior midfielder Corcoran Downey – compared to only 18 from the Tribe.
BU coach Liz Robertshaw again utilized a two-goalie system for her team that is looking to move forward after the graduation of three-year starter Rachel Klein. Sophomore Kim Elsworth got the start for BU, but was pulled after 10 minutes, having already given up five goals with only one save.
Freshman Christina Sheridan relieved Elsworth for the game’s remaining 50 minutes, giving up 10 goals while making six saves.
For the game, William & Mary attempted 29 shots, 22 of which were on goal, compared to BU’s total of 24 shots, 18 on goal.
The Terriers will look to get their young season back on track and get back to the .500 plateau with a home game against Dartmouth College at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Nickerson Field.
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