The Boston University women’s lacrosse team will open up Patriot League play Saturday afternoon against American University at Nickerson Field.
Coming off an impressive 13-7 win at home against Dartmouth College on Wednesday, the Terriers (2-2) will look to string together their first two-game win streak of the season. Tying their season high for goals at 13 on Wednesday evening, the offensive attack continued to be led by redshirt junior attack Mallory Collins.
The right-shooting sniper has scored an impressive 14 goals over the first four games, earning five in Wednesday night’s victory for the fifth time in her BU career. Collins will look to carry the Terriers again offensively against the Eagles (1-4), who have struggled defensively, allowing 11.6 goals per game.
American will travel to Boston on Saturday looking to end a four-game losing skid, following a 13-goal loss at Johns Hopkins University. The Eagles have been traveling up and down the east coast this season, and the game at BU will be their fifth road game in six contests.
American boasts a strong midfield group highlighted by junior Olivia Mangan, sophomore Madison Hoon and junior Terese Buechli. These three midfielders have combined for 24 goals in their first five games.
Hoon leads the team with 14 goals and 23 draw controls. The sophomore will be a handful for the Terriers.
“She [Hoon] wants to be on the field, and she is a clear competitor, and we have to contain her,” said BU coach Liz Robertshaw.
Robertshaw also said she knows the Terriers cannot just focus on Hoon because of the Eagles’ balanced attack.
“They have the ability to go on a scoring run and score three or four goals in a row,” Robertshaw said.
Due to the Terriers’ recent success, specifically against Dartmouth, Robertshaw said she is confident in her team’s ability to shut down American.
“We play good team defense,” she said. “We need to treat them like any other scoring team. We know they will go to the cage hard.”
BU will try to build on its impressive win against Dartmouth when it kicks off Patriot League play on Saturday. Though some teams would view this as a new chapter to a season, Robertshaw’s said her approach with the team remains the same.
“We always look at every game as a new game. This team really gets excited by the opportunity to compete,” Robertshaw said.
The Terriers will have a challenge in their midfield defensively to matchup with the three-headed attack from the visiting Eagles. Starting junior midfielder Jill Horka will have a big responsibility with draw controls against the talented Hoon. BU has won 48.8 percent of draw controls this season, a statistic Robertshaw predicts will increase.
“Jill works with our strength and conditioning coach three or four days outside of practice. She works on her wrist strength,” Robertshaw said. “The players on the outside just need to want the ball more than the opponent.”
Another area Robertshaw said the Terriers could improve upon is their team clearance percentage. Terrier opponents have gone 87 percent on clearance attempts, while BU’s defensive clearance is only converting on 75.9 percent of their clearances.
“I have challenged my team to be more aggressive,” Robertshaw said. “It is something we addressed, and I think it is just starting to work. They need to stay calm and composed and stick to the game plan and things will go well.”
The back anchor of the Terrier defense is sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Meegan, who has shown signs of improvement in the early going this season. In 12 starts last season, Meegan had an 11.14 goals against average with a 40.9 save percentage. In the first four games of the 2015 campaign, Meegan has a 10.18 goals against average and has improved her save percentage to 47.9 percent.
“It is great for us to have a goaltender that is vocal and aggressive, and as she improves, it really helps our team,” Robertshaw said.
Saturday will not be easy for the Terriers, but Robertshaw said the task is not too tall for BU.
“We need to be aggressive. We need to battle for the ball in groundballs and draw controls,” she said. “We need to take risks and attack the cage and put them on their heels.”
