Schaal, Tenney help men’s lacrosse find offensive balance

To start the season for the Boston University men’s lacrosse team, freshman attack Pat Myers was a lone bright spot for a team struggling in its inaugural year.

Myers sits fifth in the Patriot League in assists with 1.33 per game as the rookie continues to lead the young Terriers (1-6, 1-2 Patriot League). Through six games played this year, the freshman has tallied eight assists to lead BU.

However, Myers has suffered an injury that will keep him sidelined for the near future, forcing new faces to emerge to guide BU’s new-look offense.

Freshman attack Adam Schaal has shown over the past few games that he can be an integral part of the team’s offense for the rest of the season. Schaal scored two goals and recorded three assists in the Terriers’ 12-7 win over Lafayette College this past Saturday.

Schaal is second to Myers on the Terriers in assists and total points, with six and 13, respectively.

In addition to Schaal’s stellar play, redshirt freshman attack Sam Tenney proved to be a threat to opposing defenses as he tallied four goals in the Terriers’ win over the Leopards (1-5, 1-3 Patriot League).

Tenney is now tied for second on the team with Myers and freshman attack Ryan Johnston with seven goals on the season. He has also demonstrated offensive efficiency and is tied with Schaal for first on the squad with a .412 shot percentage.

Overall, the wealth of production from new sources has helped BU’s offense improve as a whole, as the Terriers scored in double digits for the first time in their victory over the Leopards.

The team still has a lot of room to grow on that side of the field, though. Right now BU is eighth in the Patriot League in offense, scoring an average of just seven goals per game.

Dearth wins Patriot League Rookie of the Week

For the second week in a row, the Terriers walked away with an honor from the Patriot League. During Spring Break, freshman attack Ryan Johnston was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week for his five-goal performance against No. 18 Colgate University on March 8.

This week, it was freshman midfielder Cal Dearth took home the same honor, the Patriot League announced Monday.

During BU’s first-ever win, Dearth led the offensive attack, recording four assists to go along with two goals in his six-point effort. His goal and assist in the fourth quarter helped BU seal the deal in the final minutes of the contest.

So far in 2014, Dearth has tallied nine points off of four goals and five assists. In his seven games played he has complied 17 ground balls, good for second on the team. The freshman is also fourth on the team in shooting percentage, sitting at .333 percent.

Defense improving 

In each of their last two games, the Terriers have allowed just seven goals to their opponents, a season-low number.

After giving up at least nine goals in each of its first five games of the season, which includes a 17-goal thrashing from Mercer University in the team’s first game as a Division I program, BU’s recent defensive efforts have lowered its rate to allowing 10.45 goals per game, good for seventh in the Patriot League.

The Terriers have also demonstrated an ability to be effectively aggressive while guarding their opponents. BU has forced 8.71 turnovers per game, including 14 against Colgate (6-2, 2-1 Patriot League) and 15 against Lafayette. The Terriers now sit at the second spot in the conference in the turnover category.

Freshman goalkeeper Christian Carson-Banister has been a consistent playmaker on the defense all season, as the Dallas native leads the conference with 84 saves, and is second in the league with 12 stops per game

In the game against Colgate, Carson-Banister showed off his abilities with a game-high 14 saves.

“[Carson-Banister]’s had this confidence since he stepped onto campus,” said BU coach Ryan Polley on Feb. 25 after a loss to Providence College.