This Saturday, the Boston University lacrosse team will take on University of Maryland-Baltimore County (7-3, 1-0 America East), which is coming off of a 10-8 win against University of New Hampshire.
The Terriers (5-4, 1-0) on the season, are coming off of a two-game winning streak against Yale University (1-7) and Binghamton University (2-9) and looking for its second America East win. The game will take place on Nickerson Field at 1 p.m.
The Retrievers and Terriers have similarly efficient offenses. The Terriers have outscored their opponents 100-90, whereas the Retrievers have outscored their opponents 116-92. Both teams have roughly a 46 percent shooting percentage, second and third in the America East, while scoring an average of 11 goals per game. In addition to having the second-best offense in the America East, the Terriers lead the conference in assists per game with an average of 5.22.
The Terriers not only have an efficient offense, but they also have had a dominating defense in their past two games, especially in the second half. The team has given up only 11 goals in the past two games while scoring 27. In the second half, they have given up only 3 goals.
The Terriers will need to maintain this type of defense to stop this UMBC team. When the two teams met last year in the America East championship, then-senior Rachel Klein had a huge performance for BU in the net. For this Saturday’s matchup, freshman goalkeeper Christina Sheridan may have to make some clutch saves.
Senior midfielders Corcoran Downey and Rachel Collins will lead the defense for BU. Downey is a two-time America East Defensive Player of the Week and had seven ground balls, six draw controls, three caused turnovers and one goal in the past two wins for the Terriers.
Collins was named to the All-Tournament Team and named the Most Outstanding Player for the America East tournament last year. She had six draw controls, three ground balls and one caused turnover in the 2010 conference finals against UMBC. Collins also had five draw controls in BU’s win over Binghamton this past Saturday.
The Terriers’ leading scorer and two-time America East player of the week, sophomore attack Danielle Etrasco, will need to continue to perform well as she has done in the past two games. Etrasco scored 4 goals in each of the past two games in addition to six draw controls. She is second in the America East with 26 goals on the season.
Senior Erica Baumgartner will also aid in the attack in an attempt to put her name in the history book by breaking Mary Beth Miller’s 2006 record of 108 career assist. Baumgartner currently leads the team with 19 assists on the season and only needs one more to break the record.
The Retrievers have a weapon of their own in senior Amanda Pappas. Pappas was named to the America East All-Tournament Team last year, and this year she leads UMBC with 24 goals on the season. Pappas had 3 goals and an assist in the Retrievers’ last win over UNH, and she has scored 17 goals over the last four games. The Terriers will need to keep Pappas in check in order to win.
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