The Boston University women’s lacrosse team is still in the process of working through injuries to find its identity as a team as it makes its way through the conference portion of its schedule.
One of the Terriers’ (4-6, 1-2 America East) weaknesses this year has been their defense. In their last three games, they have averaged 15 goals against.
“It’s been a challenge for us to have the kind of defense we did in the beginning of the season with the loss of Monica Baumgartner and Christie Hart for the last two weeks,” said BU coach Liz Robertshaw. “So I think this group is trying to adapt and adjust as best they can, and we’re not there yet.”
At the beginning of the season, the Terriers went on a three-game skid during which they gave up an average of almost 14 goals per game.
Anchoring the defense this season has been junior goalkeeper Christina Sheridan. She is leading all goalkeepers in the America East Conference with 10 saves a game.
But statistically, the Terriers are being outplayed in their defensive third. Opponents have outshot BU 278-245, which illustrates the number of the Terrier offense has been give. However, the Terriers have been able to get stops in the cage area, as they are only trailing in the goal-scoring department 124-109.
Etrasco’s outburst
On attack, senior Danielle Etrasco has shouldered much of the offensive burden for the Terriers and has been a huge reason they have stayed with teams late in games on several occasions.
In her last three games, Etrasco has netted 16 goals, including a seven-goal outburst against the University of Vermont.
“She’s been huge, I’ve said this over and over again, we’ve asked her to be a leader and she’s really stepped up to the plate,” Robertshaw said. “If she continues to take chances on cage and finishes her shots, it really loosens up the rest of the attacking unit to go and take chances for shots as well.”
In the Terriers’ 17-9 loss to Albany, Etrasco accounted for more than half of the BU offense as she poured in five goals to help keep BU in the game.
She also came up big against Harvard University, when the Terriers spent a good portion of the game fighting to come back from a 6-0 deficit.
Etrasco found the net four times, including crucial scores in the second half to keep the Terriers within striking distance of the Crimson (2-7). She also had a key assist late in the second frame that led to the game-tying goal.
“What’s overlooked with Danielle is the amount of work that she does on the draw control on the ride,” Robertshaw said.
This season, Etrasco not only leads the team in scoring, but also leads the team in draw controls with 25.
“I’m really pleased with the way she’s been stepping up and she knows that she needs to continue,” Robertshaw said.
Supporting cast doing its job
Due to the injuries that have plagued the Terrier, a supporting cast alongside Etrasco has stepped up and generated offense lately. In its past three games, BU has seen scoring from nine different players against Vermont (6-8, 1-3 America East), four different players against the University at Albany and six different players against Harvard
Swenior attack Danielle Etrasco has scored 16 goals in her last 3 games.
“That’s something we’ve been talking about all year and something that we know we needed in order to win games,” Robertshaw said about finding alternative scorers. “Even in games where we’ve lost or come close, other people are stepping up and that’s what we have to do.”
The position of the role players on the Terrier team this year was really emphasized in the game against Harvard. In the closing seconds, junior midfielder Sydney Godett, who had only scored three goals all season, was awarded a position shot and found the back of the net to give BU the victory, tallying her second game-winning goal.
Along with Etrasco in the top 10 for all major scoring categories in the America East Conference, the Terriers have two different players in the top 10 in assists per game in the conference. Other than Etrasco, sophomore attack Lindsay Weiner is among the conference leaders in assists per game.
“In practice, I’m constantly challenging our younger players to take chances on cage and to take shots,” Robertshaw said. “And I think that’s something that in the game against Vermont they did a good job of doing that.”
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