The Boston University lacrosse team suffered its second consecutive loss to start the season this past weekend, this time to No. 19 Harvard University.
Despite hat tricks by both junior attack Danielle Etrasco and freshman attack Mallory Collins, BU fell short of Harvard, 11-9.
With the back-to-back losses to begin the season, the Terriersm (0-2) are already off to their worst start to a season since 1998, when they lost their first two games of the season before beating Boston College in their third.
Senior midfielder Annie Stookesberry opened up the scoring to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead 5:22 into the first half as she put a shot past Crimson goalkeeper Kelly Weis off of a pass from senior attack Catie Tilton. The goal marked Stookesberry’s second of the season.
The Crimson (1-0) answered with two goals, but their lead lasted just 37 seconds. With 18:52 remaining in the frame, Collins scored her first of three to tie the game up 2-2 off another assist from Tilton.
Collins scored again with the help of sophomore attack Elizabeth Morse to answer a Crimson goal to make it 3-3 with 12:00 remaining in the first half.
Harvard scored another two to take the lead 5-3, but with 2:00 remaining in the first half, Etrasco made a run to score an uncontested shot.
Harvard opened with a quick goal to start the second half, and the Terriers answered with a tally by junior midfielder Kristen Mogavero off a free-position shot.
The Crimson tallied twice to extend their lead to 8-5, but BU responded with two goals of its own thanks to Collins and sophomore attack Becca Church. Collins completed her hat trick with an unassisted goal after a forced turnover. Church then followed with her first collegiate goal off an assist from Mogavero.
With 16:43 remaining in regulation, Harvard extended its lead to two, 9-7. Etrasco brought BU within one six minutes later though, when she scored a free position goal to make it 9-8. The teams then traded free-position strikes, with Etrasco’s third goal cutting the Crimson lead to 10-9 with 5:19 left on the clock.
The Terriers’ comeback fell short, as they were could not convert on scoring opportunities in the final five minutes. Harvard extended its lead back to two, 11-9, when attack Jenn VanderMeulen netted her third goal of the game off a BU turnover.
Despite the loss, BU coach Liz Robertshaw said that she was impressed with the way the team played.
“Defensively, I was very impressed with the team and our ability to stick to our game plan of slowing down the one-on-one attacks that they are known for,” Robertshaw said.
Harvard was limited to just 50 percent shooting, scoring 11 goals on 22 shots, thanks in part to sophomore goalkeeper Christina Sheridan’s eight saves. The Terriers also forced 12 Crimson turnovers.
Robertshaw also thought that the team made “huge improvements on the draw controls,” as BU won the draw control battle 14-8.
The Terriers have been getting better in many areas including turnovers. With 13 total turnovers in the game, BU recorded two less turnovers than the previous game. Also, while they shot under 50 percent, the Terriers stayed within two goals of nationally-ranked Harvard for the most of the game.
“Obviously nobody likes to lose,” Robertshaw said, “but to hold a team like Harvard to 11 goals is a huge statement for us.”
Despite the tough start, Robertshaw does not sound worried about the team.
“I have confidence [in the team] in the fact that they fought back,” Robertshaw said. “We’re getting better every day.”
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