Looking to rebound from an out-of-conference loss to the University of Denver, the Boston University women’s lacrosse team will return to Patriot League play against the College of the Holy Cross on Wednesday afternoon.
In their previous game, the Terriers (3-3, 1-0 Patriot League) were unable to escape a slow start against the Pioneers (5-2), as they were down 5-1 in the half’s first 10 minutes before finishing the frame with a six-goal deficit.
Former America East Rookie of the Year redshirt junior attack Mallory Collins had a strong day, as she had three of the Terriers’ eight goals for the day.
Collins is the leader of this BU squad with 18 goals, while senior attack Lindsay Weiner has the most assists on the team with six.
“With Mallory, who has the ball on her stick a lot, and she’s always about to be double-teamed, I think you will find more assists,” said BU coach Liz Robertshaw. “As of right now, we’re in a position where our players see her, and she takes a quick shot. It’s not something I’m alarmed about in any way. I love the fact that she’s putting balls in the net. She will find her teammates as she gets more comfortable with dealing with defenses collapsing onto her.”
Holy Cross (2-6, 2-0 Patriot League) has had a rough start to its season, losing its first five games by a combined score of 57-30. The Crusaders then were finally able to get a win in their first conference game of the season against Colgate University on March 7 by a score of 12-11.
“Tomorrow is going to be a game where we really need to get out and push the pace,” Robertshaw said. “We’re facing a team that has done a great job the past couple of games at pushing the fast break. We need to improve on that and take it to the cage hard. That’s something I really want to see from our midrunners and our attackers down the way.”
That game against the Raiders (3-3, 1-1 Patriot League) could not be resolved until triple overtime. Midfielder Laura Ryan was the star for Holy Cross as she had four goals and two assists, including one on the game-winning goal.
Ryan is the Crusaders’ most dangerous weapon with 21 points on the year to go along with the highest shot percentage for players with double digit shot attempts on the team.
“They have a couple of players that are doing an excellent job in Laura Ryan and [attack] Kate Martino, so we have to slow them down,” Robertshaw said. “We need to limit the amount of time the ball spends on their stick and the shots they take, and play really good team defense, which has been a big focus for us.”
Ryan, the 10th leading goal scorer in Crusader history, will be a formidable matchup for the Terriers, especially as the only two wins that Holy Cross has have come against conference opponents.
The other conference win that Holy Cross gathered was against American University on Saturday, whom they beat 15-10. The Terriers also beat the Eagles (2-6, 0-2 Patriot League), but by a bigger margin, as they won 13-5.
BU has had incredibly close numbers to its opponents this season in shot categories. BU is plus-1 in shot differential and averages 9.67 goals per game compared to their opponents’ 9.50. The numbers are also similar on assists, where the Terriers have 19 on the season compared to their opponent’s 15.
Meanwhile, the Crusaders are getting outscored by almost three goals per game, as opponents are putting up 11.12 goals to their 8.38.
There is one place where both teams have a strength, and that is on free position shots. Holy Cross is converting these shots at a 51.4 percent clip, while BU is shooting a slightly worse 45.7 percent.
“We’re continuing to involve,” Robertshaw said. “Every player is learning what role they fit into, but I think we’re adjusting really well. I’ve seen people take any opportunity they can get and put their best effort forward. I think there’s a whole other level that they can get to, and it’s my job to push them there.”
