Things have been going well for the Boston University men’s lacrosse team, as it has won its past four games, all of which were against formidable opponents. The team will hope to keep things going as they prepare to square off against the United States Naval Academy this Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
This game is an important one for the Terriers (6-2, 3-1 Patriot League), as they will face the top team in the Patriot League, the Midshipmen (6-3, 4-1 Patriot League). A win for the Terriers would give them sole possession of first place in the league standings.
The Terriers are coming off a strong game against Bucknell University on Saturday, where they had a strong second half to knock off the Bison, 11-9, at Nickerson Field. Sophomore midfielder Cal Dearth had two goals and three assists in the contest to lead the Terriers. Sophomore goalie Christian Carson-Banister had eight saves in the second half and 12 in the game.
Because of the hot streak BU is on, it was recently ranked for the first time in the program’s young history, coming in at No. 19 in the nation . While BU coach Ryan Polley acknowledged the milestone for the program, he said he is careful to not get too caught up in it.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “A lot of hard work went into it. The guys have worked so hard as student-athletes. So it’s great, but at the same time, it’s challenging. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We need to continue doing what we’ve done to be successful, and that’s taking every day one day at a time and competing at practice and doing the things that we’ve always done.
“We would much rather be happy with being at this place at the end of the season than only being here in the mid-season. I do think it’s significant because we are so new. To be competing with these very strong programs and beating them, and being 3-1 in a very competitive league is significant.”
The Terriers will get a chance to show that they deserve to be ranked during Saturday’s game, which will be nationally televised by CBS Sports Network. Polley stressed the importance of not thinking about the attention they are getting.
“We’re trying to not focus too much on our opponent and focus more on us and worry about getting better,” he said. “Certainly, we have to prepare for a few things Navy does. We just don’t want to get focused in on being ranked and playing on national television. We just want to go out there and play a good lacrosse game and execute and see how the game plays out by just doing that.”
Navy is one of the more balanced teams in the nation, as it averages 10 goals a game and only surrenders 7.72 on average, which is second best in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen also lead the league in ground balls won per game. With no real superstar on Navy to worry about, Polley has no choice but to focus on the whole team and what they’re capable of doing.
“They’re just very balanced,” he said. “They’re good in pretty much every position. They’re great at face-offs, so I think that will be a really interesting sub-plot. Secondly, they’re good everywhere. They’re great at defense. They’re solid around the goal. They have a great attack. They’re also physical and athletic and in shape, being students at the Naval Academy.
“These are huge challenges for us to go in there and play in their building on national television,” Polley added. “I couldn’t look forward to it any more, and I’m very excited to see how the game goes on Saturday.”
Nick is currently writing for the Boston Hockey Blog. In the past, he has served as associate sports editor, and has covered men's and women's cross-country, women's soccer, men's basketball, and men's lacrosse for the Daily Free Press. You can keep track of Nick's exciting life by following him on Twitter at @nikfraz14
