On Sunday, the No. 12 Boston University field hockey team returns to Jordan Field to take on another tough, ranked opponent in No. 7 University of Virginia.
So far this season, BU (6–2) is 2–1 against ranked opponents.
Earlier in September, the Terriers defeated the No. 23 Boston College, but could not do the same against No. 2 Syracuse University.
The Terriers are coming off of a victory in double overtime Tuesday afternoon against then-No. 25 University of Massachusetts.
Freshman forward Rachel Coll was the heroine of the game as she knocked in the game-winning goal 51 seconds into the second overtime.
Before its win over Massachusetts, BU was in a bit of a skid after its 5–0 start.
After losing to Syracuse on Sept. 9, the Terriers traveled to Williamsburg, Va., to take on No. 20 The College of William & Mary.
In the game, BU could not overcome the 1–0 deficit and was upset by the Tribe.
Now that they have snapped their short losing streak and “[got] back on the saddle,” as BU coach Sally Starr said in an interview following Tuesday’s game, the Terriers are looking forward to their match with Virginia (7–2) and will be the ones trying to make the upset.
“University of Virginia is an outstanding team,” Starr said about her team’s next opponent. “They have some girls that can really play.”
Sunday’s game will be a good test on multiple levels for the Terriers.
The first is to see whether or not they have taken what they have learned from playing such a tough, top-ranked team as Syracuse.
Although the Terriers played a great game and kept the Orange from scoring until there was less than 11 minutes remaining in regulation, they have shown the capability to compete at a high level.
Their downfall against Syracuse was their conditioning — Something Starr noted after the loss.
“[We are looking to] make sure we’re healthy and ready to compete for 70 minutes and to take advantage of scoring opportunities,” Starr said.
During the Terriers’ game against Massachusetts, they were unable to take advantage of each of their scoring opportunities.
By the end of the game, the Terriers held a shot advantage of 26–11 and a corner advantage of 13––4.
The Minutewomen had impressive goalkeeping in the game, but the Terriers failed to convert on the opportunities they created for themselves.
Therefore, a big key to how well BU does against the Cavaliers is whether the team stays in the attack mindset it started against UMass.
Against Syracuse, the Terriers failed to get into an attack mentality until the final minutes of regulation and by that time they were down by two goals and could not overcome the deficit.
That is yet another reason why Starr would like to see her team play a complete game.
During the loss to Syracuse, BU mainly played defense, allowing the Orange to take shot after shot, which eventually led to the goals.
This will be another test to see how the team will fare against another top team in the country.
At the moment, BU is in contention with Northeastern University for an at-large bid in the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament.
If the Terriers were to pull off the upset and have a win like this on their resume, it would not only help them in the rankings to possibly even jump ahead of Northeastern, but it would increase their chances of making the tournament.
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