In its last home game of the season, the No. 16 Boston University field hockey team kept spectators on their toes as they beat No. 15 University at Albany 2-1 in double overtime in a conference match-up.
The favorable outcome earned the Terriers a spot in the America East Conference Tournament.
“We lost two games in overtime on this field to UNH and Duke, each by one point, so it had left a bad taste in our mouth and we did not want that again,” said junior forward Macey Gaumond.
Gaumond, the leading scorer on the team, had an assist and multiple key tackles Saturday afternoon at Newton Campus Field.
Senior captain Kate Murphy earned the game-winning goal in a hard-fought win after a tough week in which the Terriers played four games in seven days, all against top 20 nationally ranked teams.
The first half proved to be a defensive battle, with the Terriers controlling the ball for most of the half and making close shots multiple times in the first 35 minutes.
The Terriers both outshot and out-cornered the Great Danes 7-2 and 4-2, respectively.
“We were passing really well and working the ball out of their press,” said BU coach Sally Starr. “And we made better decisions on the ball and getting to the outside channels.”
While they did not prove as dominant in the second half, the Terriers were able to score first with a shot from junior fullback Jacinda McLeod off a penalty corner. After receiving the insert from Gaumond, sophomore forward Ysi Schieb made room for McLeod’s blast to the cage, which found its way past Albany goalkeeper junior Kristi Troch.
“I was actually mad at the time,” McLeod said of her timely goal. “I was stoked we got it back, but I didn’t want to celebrate too early.”
McLeod’s suspicion proved true when the Great Danes scored with less than 10 minutes left in regulation on an unassisted goal by forward/midfield sophomore Corrine McConville.
The goal came off a rebound that McConville converted into a shot from the right post that slipped past freshman goalkeeper Valentina Cerda into the opposite post. Cerda made seven saves against Albany.
The Terriers had a chance to win the game on a corner at the end of the second half, but the shot by McLeod was blocked and the Great Danes chased the Terriers into overtime.
On a corner in the first overtime period, McLeod was drilled in the arm with a shot by Murphy, but remained in the game until just three minutes before the end of the first overtime block. Yet McLeod returned for the second 15-minute addition, playing despite her obvious pain.
“I’m pretty stupid when it comes to pain tolerance,” McLeod said. “If I can hold my stick, I’m playing.”
Albany was rewarded a penalty corner in the second overtime in a call that was disputed by Starr, but the Terriers used it against them after the Great Danes were not able to make the stop on the insert. After bringing the ball up the field into scoring territory, junior forward/midfielder Tabi Hatch assisted on a 2-on-1 play that resulted in Murphy’s game-winning goal off a reverse stick shot five yards in front of the left post.
“I love to see a senior score a goal like that,” Starr said.
BU and Albany earned 12 shots apiece and Albany earned 14 penalty corners, almost double that of the Terriers, who only managed nine against the Great Danes.
Sunday evening, the Terriers turned around and traveled across town to Sweeney Field, falling in a 4-1 loss to the No. 17 Northeastern Huskies in their fourth game of the week.
In their senior day game, the Huskies stretched their winning streak to seven games.
“It was really rough circumstances,” Starr said. “We had an emotional and physical overtime victory on Saturday and we spent a lot of energy. We were playing on empty gas tanks.”
The Huskies opened up scoring just seven minutes into the game with the help of senior midfielders Pam Aldridge and Kaela Barker on a pass off a penalty corner in which Aldridge earned her sixth goal of the season.
Just two minutes later, the Huskies bit again on an unassisted goal from junior forward Nicky Graham.
In the second half, the Huskies continued their scoring streak with two goals from junior forward Crystal Poland, who earned her 25th goal of the season on the last game tally and resumed her position as the top-scorer in the country.
The Terriers earned a spot on the board with a penalty corner goal from McLeod, assisted by sophomore midfielder/fullback Kat Spring, in the 46th minute.
The Huskies outshot the Terriers 19-8 and earned 10 penalty corners compared to three earned by the Terriers.
“We had it in our hearts and our minds,” Starr said. “But we just didn’t have it in our legs.”
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