Terrier junior midfielder Sydney Godett scored the game-winning goal for BU off a free-position shot with 11 seconds remaining in a game against Harvard.
On a sunny day in front of a packed house, the Boston University women’s lacrosse team came away with a thrilling 12-11 comeback victory over Harvard University Friday night.
Just more than one minute after the initial draw, the Crimson (2-6) were on the attack after a ground-ball pickup led to their first goal of the game, quieting the energetic crowd.
The Terrier (3-5, 0-1 America East) offense was stagnant to begin the game, but with about 14 minutes left, junior attack Elizabeth Morse was fouled and awarded a free-position shot. She put it past Harvard goalkeeper Melanie Cook for the score. The goal was Morse’s 12th of the season.
Two minutes later, Harvard responded with a free-position goal from defender Amelia Capone to bring its lead back to six.
Following Capone’s score, the Terriers went on a four-goal run to get themselves back in to the game.
Senior attack Danielle Etrasco sparked the Terriers with her team-leading 22nd goal of the season. Senior midfielder Kristen Mogavero and Etrasco traded goals to round out the BU scoring run.
Harvard attack Audrey Todd added a score for the Crimson to give them an 8-5 lead heading into the locker room at the half.
In the first half, junior goalkeeper Christina Sheridan played well in the cage despite the goals scored against her. Her eight saves in the opening frame proved to be critical, and allowed the Terriers to stay in the game.
BU lagged in the draw-control department — which has been a season-long source of trouble — losing nine of 14 in the first period.
From the opening draw in the second half, it looked as if the Crimson might run away with the game, as they found the back of the net fewer than 30 seconds into the half. But the Terriers bounced back, going on a three-goal run, which began with an Etrasco goal on a free-position shot.
“I was really pleased with the way they came back in the second half and got back to the game plan which we had set in place,” said BU coach Liz Robertshaw. “When they did that, good things happened.”
Leading 9-8 six minutes into the half, Todd scored again to give it a two- goal lead and end the Terrier scoring run.
With 14 minutes left in the half, Morse found the back of the net to bring the Terriers back within one goal, and three minutes later, sophomore attack Jenna Boarman found fellow sophomore attack Kelsey Marafioti for her first goal of the season, which tied the game at 10.
“I’m excited for Kelsey, we gave her some playing time and she did some good things,” Robertshaw said.
With seven minutes to play and the score still knotted up at 10, Harvard midfielder Nina Kucharczyk beat Sheridan for a score to give the Crimson a one-goal lead.
Two minutes later, Marafioti was active again around the cage, receiving the pass from Etrasco and finishing with a shot to beat Cook for her second goal of the game and the game’s second tie.
After stifling defense from both teams, junior midfielder Sydney Godett was fouled and awarded a free-position shot with 11 seconds left in the game, giving the Terriers a chance at the victory. After hearing the referee’s whistle, Godett took a few steps towards the cage with the Harvard defense closing in, and fired a shot passed Cook to give BU the lead as time expired.
“The team effort in the second half is what we’re looking for on a more consistent basis,” Robertshaw said.
The Terriers outshot the Crimson 13-7 in the second half, and outscored them 7-3.
Etrasco finished the game leading all players with five points on four goals and one assist.
Defensively the Terriers were strong, forcing 16 turnovers while committing 13.
“I just told them ‘Calm down, just keep trusting each other, stick to the game plan,’ and they did that,” Robertshaw said.
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