With a 16-8 win against University of Vermont, the Boston University lacrosse team improved to 8-8 on the season on the strength of nine goals from sophomore attack Danielle Etrasco.
The win, along with University at Albany’s victory over University of Maryland-Baltimore County, not only sealed a playoff spot for the Terriers (4-2 AE), but also gave them the No. 2 seed in the tournament. This will be the 13th straight AE tournament appearance for the Terriers.
Sophomore attack Danielle Etrasco came up big for the team with a program single-game record nine goals. That beat the previous mark of eight set by Sarah Dalton during her senior season in 2009. Named the AE Player of the Game, Etrasco also had three draw controls, one ground ball and one caused turnover.
Other offensive leaders for the Terriers were senior attack Erica Baumgartner with one goal and three assists, junior attack Molly Swain with two goals and one assist and junior attack Catie Tilton with one goal and three assists.
Freshman goalkeeper Christina Sheridan had eight saves.
The Terriers outmatched the Catamounts (8-9, 2-4 America East) in draw controls and ground balls, 14-12 and 15-11, respectively. BU was 15-for-16 on clears and 4-for-6 on free-position shots, while Vermont went 11-for-13 and 4-for-7 respectively.
The first half started with Vermont taking an early 2-0 lead just 2:01 into the game, but freshman attack Elizabeth Morse scored a free-position goal and Etrasco scored her first of three first-half goals to tie the game up 2-2.
Attack Sydney Mas scored her second goal for Vermont, but the Terriers closed the half with a 4-0 run. Swain tallied an unassisted goal with 16:08 left in the half, and Etrasco scored twice in the span of 3 minutes.
With 1:41 left in the half, Baumgartner scored with an assist from senior midfielder Rachel Collins to give the Terriers a 6-3 lead going into halftime.
To open the second half, Vermont came out strong again as they went on a 2-1 run. Mas scored for a third time just 33 seconds into the half, and after Etrasco scored less than a minute later, Emma Kelly scored on a free-position shot for Vermont to make it a two-goal game.
However, despite the Catamounts’ efforts to make a comeback, the Terriers would run away with the game by scoring another six straight goals. With 24:08 left in the half, Etrasco tallied her fifth goal of the game on a free-position shot and her sixth 26 seconds later off an assist from Baumgartner.
Swain scored again off a free-position with 21:48 left before Etrasco put away another two goals with assists from Tilton and Baumgartner, less than a minute apart.
Freshman midfielder Sydney Godett scored a goal of her own off a free-position shot with 17:54 left in the game to make the contest 13-5. While Vermont’s Mas and Allison Pfohl added a goal each in a 15-second span in an attempt to close the gap, Etrasco would answer with her ninth goal with 9:41 left in the game.
Mas then scored her fifth goal for Vermont, but it would not be nearly enough as Tilton and sophomore defender Brittany Carlin, scoring her first goal of the season, each added a tally to make the final score 16-8.
The much-needed win sends the Terriers into the AE tournament with some momentum as they will face UMBC in the AE semifinals. In their regular season matchup, BU beat UMBC 13-9, and they will try to do the same on May 5.
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