Facing off against Harvard University Sunday afternoon, the Boston University field hockey team came up with a 3-1 victory at New Balance Field. While the Terriers’ bounce-back effort after a loss to Bucknell University Saturday was a prime takeaway, all the focus after the game was directed toward BU head coach Sally Starr.
With the win over the Crimson (6-4), the Terriers (5-5, 1-1 Patriot League) also secured Starr’s 400th win with the Boston University field hockey program. Even though the milestone was noteworthy, it was not the first thing on Starr’s mind when the game reached its conclusion.
“I’m just pleased we played good hockey today,” Starr said. “We played bloody awful against Bucknell…and to come from that type of situation a bit more than 24 hours later, we played well, and I was very pleased with how we played.”
Although this is Starr’s 400th win with the Boston University program, she has tallied 419 overall wins in her coaching career. Before her arrival to BU in 1981, she spent two years as the head coach of Bucknell (6-3, 2-0 Patriot League) during which time she earned 19 wins during her two campaigns in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Starr has built an impressive resume during her time as head coach, ranking fifth among active coaches and sixth all time in Division 1 wins. With the accolade, Starr also joins a select group of coaches who have achieved 400 wins with a single program. Only Old Dominion University’s Beth Anders, University of North Carolina’s Karen Shelton, Pennsylvania State University’s Char Morett and University of Maryland’s Missy Meharg have reached this milestone before Starr did.
During her time with the Terriers. Starr has been awarded the America East Coach of the Year six times while also garnering Dita/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Northeast Region Coach of the Year awards during the 2005 and 2007 seasons.
Starr has also reached success in the postseason, leading the Terriers to 10 NCAA tournament appearances, including three consecutive appearances from 2005-07. After earning conference championships in four of her last eight seasons in the America East conference, Starr helped lead the Terriers to the Patriot League championship game in their first season in the conference.
Despite her tenure with Bucknell and the University of New Hampshire, where she began her coaching career in 1978, Starr’s most memorable moments came during her time with the Terriers.
“The one thing I love, the one constant, is that my team that I had for my first win, the personalities are all the same,” Starr said. “I went to a wedding last weekend for a former player and 70 to 80 alumni were…It’s kind of a cool thing.”
Alexander mainly covers field hockey for the Daily Free Press. On his days off, he catches up on playing basketball and soccer and cheers on the New York Giants, Knicks, and Yankees. He previously interned at the office of U.S. Senator Edward Markey.
