Junior attack Hannah Frey and sophomore attack Danielle Etrasco each scored four goals to lead the Boston University lacrosse team (4-4, 1-0 AE) to a 15-6 win at Nickerson Field over Binghamton University in the Terriers’ first America East game of the season on Saturday.
For BU coach Liz Robertshaw, the win helped her team move on from a mediocre, 3-4 showing in its non-conference schedule to start the season.
“I think starting off your conference play with a win like this is big for us,” Robertshaw said. “We told them every game is going to be a battle, but it’s also nice to be able to start the second half of our season with a clean slate in the America East.”
Senior attack Erica Baumgartner moved her way to the top of the BU record books, tallying two assists on Saturday to bring her career assist total to 108, tying Mary Beth Miller, a School of Management ’06 alumna, for the most in program history. Baumgartner also scored a goal to give her three points against the Bearcats (2-8, 0-1 AE).
The Terriers pushed their way to a 5-1 lead in the first 15:52 of the first half. Binghamton did not fall easily, though, and answered BU’s quick start with three consecutive goals, bringing the score to 5-4. The first half ended with the Terriers ahead 6-4.
However, BU dominated the second half. The Terriers scored eight straight goals to start the second half as they jumped out to a 14-4 lead. Binghamton outscored the Terriers 2-1 in the final 10 minutes of the game, but the game was already far out of reach.
Etrasco scored three of the first four goals of the second half, and helped spark BU to pull away from Binghamton.
“When [Etrasco] was very aggressive with her attacking style, she did a great job,” Robertshaw said. “She’s a dynamic player who can change the game, and that’s something we want her to do every time.”
Freshman Christina Sheridan got the start in goal for BU on Saturday, and only allowed four goals in over 48 minutes of play. BU substituted sophomore Kim Elsworth into the game with 11:32 remaining, in which she only allowed two Bearcat goals. The Terriers played very strong team defense all game, only allowing a total of 12 Binghamton shots.
Supplementing Frey’s and Etrasco’s combined eight goals was junior attack Molly Swain, who scored three of her own. Also adding their names to the score sheet were senior midfielder Corcoran Downey, junior attack Catie Tilton, and freshman attack Sydney Godett, who each scored a goal. Tilton also added three assists, while Godett made one of her own.
BU outperformed Binghamton in almost every category on Saturday. The Terriers outshot the Bearcats 30-12 and controlled 17 draws compared to Binghamton’s six.
A key factor to BU’s scoring total was success on free-position shots. The Terriers were awarded seven free-position shots and scored on four of them. On the other end, Robertshaw’s squad held Binghamton to only two free-position shots, neither of which was converted.
BU will get back on the field on April 2 against University of Baltimore-Maryland County in another AE matchup. After her team’s first taste of conference play, Robertshaw said BU has high hopes for the success of its season, but that the team knows that there will be a lot tougher games upcoming.
“If you want to go after an America East championship, it starts right now and I think the girls showed that we’re in it,” Robertshaw said. “Our conference is doing very well this year. So from here, we have to fix the little things and make sure we put up these numbers, if not more.”
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