Lacrosse, Sports

Providence squeaks by men’s lacrosse

In the biting cold on Tuesday evening, the Boston University men’s lacrosse team hosted Providence College at Nickerson Field and sang a similar song as it did this past weekend, losing 10-7.

MICHELLE JAY/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF Freshman attack Pat Myers scored three times to record a hat trick in BU’s 10-7 loss to Providence.
MICHELLE JAY/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Freshman attack Pat Myers scored three times to record a hat trick in BU’s 10-7 loss to Providence.

The game was another instance where the Terriers (0-4) could not put that last piece together and make a strong push for the win.

“We’re making progress, and we played hard,” said BU coach Ryan Polley. “I’m happy with the level of energy and how hard we’re playing, but our execution tonight wasn’t what it had been.

“We were good in the first half and then the game I guess became a little too fast for us. We turned the ball over way too much and it just limited our opportunities to get chances at the goal.”

The game began as a defensive battle, with neither side getting on the board for the first nine-and-a-half minutes. Freshman attack Adam Schaal was the first one to break the scoreless tie with 6:21 left to play in the first during a man-up situation.

Just more than 1:30 later, Providence (2-0) tied the game on a chance of its own on the man advantage. The goal was scored by attack Alex Corboy, who finished the night with a hat trick — his second in as many games.

With 3:11 remaining in the opening quarter, the Friars took the lead on a goal from junior Buck McClure, who worked his way past the Terrier defense with a nifty crease roll and ultimately beat freshman goalkeeper Christian Carson-Banister.

BU responded two minutes later when freshman midfielder Craig Zebrowski fired home a feed from sophomore midfielder Sammy Davis to tie the score up at two.

The Friars retook the lead with 22 seconds left in the quarter, but freshman attack Pat Myers sent one past goalie Tyler Himes with three ticks left in the first frame to knot the score at three apiece.

Myers continues to leave his mark on games — this one especially — as he wound up netting the program’s first hat trick by the end of the night. He now has six goals and five assists through four games.

“He’s played well,” Polley said. “He’s been our best option on offense and he continues to make quick plays … He’s definitely the quarterback of our offense, and he’s doing a terrific job.”

In the second quarter, Providence scored a little over a minute after the opening draw. The Terriers then tied the score two minutes later when Myers netted his second of the game. BU had a chance to regain the lead when freshman midfielder Sam Talkow controlled the ball after winning the draw and sprinted down the field on a fast break. He got a shot off, but it sailed wide.

Talkow’s success in draw controls has not gone unnoticed. He won 14-of-21 draws he took during this game and has now won 42 of the 73 he’s taken all season, which gives him about a 57.5 percent success rate so far.

The Friars answered with two goals within 50 seconds of one another to extend the lead to 6-4 — the first an absolute rocket that came from far out and the second the result of a passing play to attack Robert Caffrey, who was waiting by the far post to flick the ball in.

Redshirt freshman midfielder Patrick Donnelly scored his first of the season to pull BU within one, but Corboy’s third goal of the game re-extended the Providence lead to two as the first half came to an end.

Only two goals were scored in the third quarter and both by Providence, widening the scoring gap to four goals.

The Terriers had the first goal of the final quarter 1:45 in when freshman midfielder James Clarke put one away with a little help from Myers.

Carson-Banister made a series of great saves throughout the next 10 minutes to keep his team within three, but the Friars broke through and scored their 10th and final goal of the game with 5:17 left to play. Carson-Banister ended the contest with 14 saves.

Myers completed his hat trick with 45 seconds remaining in the game, but once again, BU fell short of the win and remains in search of its first.

According to Polley, turnovers and lack of offensive execution hurt BU in the end, but the first-year coach had good things to say about his defense.

“There were just some careless plays and lack of execution,” Polley said. “Players [were] trying to force it trying to make a play, and the plays weren’t there. [Providence] got a couple sticks on passes and good opportunities turned into turnovers, and we were on our heels for most of the second half.

“The defense played well. [Carson-Banister] played another good game early and late, but we just turned the ball over on our clear and we gave up a couple opportunities … I would say defense was the strength today — that and facing off.”

Website | More Articles

This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.

Comments are closed.