The Boston University field hockey team’s annual battle against Commonwealth Avenue rival No. 15 Boston College ended on a sour note, as the Terriers dropped an overtime thriller, 2-1, on the road Friday night.
Following a tight 1-0 win over the University of the Pacific on Sept. 7, the Terriers (2-3) were looking to improve offensively, as they had been plagued by missed chances since the beginning of the season. Going into its matchup versus the Eagles (4-1), BU had converted on just seven of its 43 shot attempts.
Fresh off two straight victories against local opponents in the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Providence College, BC had momentum when it took the turf against the Terriers in Newton. It also had a convincing history.
Last season, when the Eagles faced off with the Terriers at New Balance Field, they took until the 61st minute to capture the win, earning the 1-0 win off the stick of senior Emma Plasteras.
“BC is obviously always a big game,” said BU coach Sally Starr. “But I don’t think they were concerned with what happened last year at all. They’re really all about this team and this season.”
This year’s tilt began much the same way, as both teams started off slowly out of the gates. The teams combined for 10 first half shots, three by BU and seven by BC. The Eagles did get quality opportunities off penalty corners, however, as senior goalkeeper Valentina Cerda Eimbcke was forced to make two difficult saves on four Eagle chances. Meanwhile, BC goalkeeper Leah Settipane did not see a lot of action, making just one save in the half.
“Our corner defense was outstanding,” Starr said. “[Assistant coach] Tracey [Paul] did a lot of work with them, and that’s really been a strong point of our game. BC got a lot of attack penalty corner opportunities, getting 12. So our corner defense really helped us to stay in the game. [Eimbcke] helped us to stay in the game as well.”
Once the second half began, however, the entire pace of the game changed. The Eagles started to find open looks, bombarding Eimbcke with shots on goal. Soon, even the reigning Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year could not stop the onslaught, letting in a rebound goal off the stick of freshman Brooke Matherson in the 52nd minute.
Perhaps bringing to mind last year’s 1-0 defeat, the Terriers began to attack the cage with a renewed vigor.
“We just kept attacking, and we didn’t quit,” Starr said. “We started to press a little bit more, and we forced BC into a lot of turnovers, and that helped us create more scoring opportunities.”
Finally, in the 59th minute, after earning a penalty corner, BU struck gold, as the Terriers set up a chance for sophomore forward Amanda Cassera. Settipane stopped Cassera’s first attempt but could not reach her second off the rebound, allowing BU to knot the game up at one apiece with 10 minutes remaining.
“We got a corner opportunity off a set piece, and it was something we’ve really been working on,” Starr said. “It’s a good corner for us, and I think we made a good call to set that up against Boston College.”
Cassera’s goal would prove to be all the offense for either team during regulation, as at the end of 70 minutes, the game remained tied at one, and the teams began a golden-goal style overtime period.
BU held its own defensively for the first ten minutes of overtime, until Emma Plasteras once again made her mark against the Terriers. The North Vancouver, British Columbia, native took the ball all the way down to the BU end of the field before delivering the assist to junior Kelcie Hromisin, who scored on the reverse chip to win it for the Eagles.
The 2-1 loss against BC marks the second time this season the Terriers have gone into OT and lost, the first being a 3-2 defeat against Northeastern University to open their season.
BU will open conference play in their next matchup, as it will go on the road to Easton, Pennsylvania to face Lafayette College Saturday.
Despite the loss, Starr remains proud of her team’s effort against top-tier opponents this season.
“I love how this team keeps showing resiliency by the ability to come back and tie games,” Starr said. “They don’t get down on themselves after a goal gets scored. And at times, we played really well against a good Boston College team. But I think it just needs to be more consistent. I give the team an ‘A’ on the intangibles of competing hard and playing hard and playing for each other.
“We just need to improve as a hockey team. We have no seniors on the field right now, so I think our hockey will get better and better each week.”
Justin is a former Sports Editor for the Daily Free Press. In the past, he has covered the BU field hockey, men's basketball, women's hockey and women's lacrosse teams. Justin has interned at WEEI.com and serves as Editor-In-Chief of the Cleveland sports blog, Straight Down Euclid. Follow him on Twitter: @just_a_pal
