Faceoff troubles, physicality hinder No. 19 men’s lacrosse in loss to Navy

Ryan Polley, coach of the No. 19 Boston University men’s lacrosse team, did not mince words following his team’s 14-6 loss to the United States Naval Academy on Saturday afternoon.

“I think that Navy played harder than us,” he said. “They were a bit more hungry than us and had a bit of a chip on their shoulder that we were ranked and they weren’t.”

From start to finish, the Midshipmen (7-3, 5-1 Patriot League) physically overpowered the Terriers (6-3, 3-2 Patriot League). Navy won nearly every loose ball, especially in the midfield, which stifled the BU offense and allowed the Mids to get more open looks on net.

Navy’s aggressiveness was particularly evident in the first quarter, as the Midshipmen pressured the Terriers at both ends of the field. Navy collected 14 ground balls to the Terriers’ nine and did not allow Polley’s side to earn a successful clear in the frame. This led to a 16-2 disparity in shots and a 3-1 advantage on the scoreboard for the Midshipmen by the quarter’s end.

While in the second frame, Polley’s team “settled down” and was able to cut the deficit to 5-3, the Terriers were never able to match the intensity brought forth by the Midshipmen.

This disparity in physicality was even seen at the faceoff X, an area where the Terriers and sophomore specialist Sam Talkow typically shine. Facing off against sophomore Brady Dove, who came into the game owning the NCAA’s best faceoff-win percentage, Talkow struggled to get going. He won just two of seven faceoff opportunities in the first half and was 11-of-24 on the afternoon.

Without Talkow’s typical strong performance, the Terrier defense could no longer hide its clearing woes.

“He [Talkow] gets us so many possessions because he wins the faceoffs, and then when we struggle clearing, like we unfortunately do on a game-to-game basis, he really masks it and gets us the ball,” Polley said. “We have to pick Sam up this week because he’s been so great for us all year long.”

In the third quarter, Navy was especially dominant. The Midshipmen won nearly every 50-50 ball in the midfield, allowing Navy to get 14 shots against a freshman goalkeeper who was making his first start in place of injured sophomore goalkeeper Christian Carson-Banister. Navy put together seven straight goals in the frame and held a nine-goal lead before the Terriers scored twice in the quarter’s final two minutes to bring the score to 12-5.

Navy’s control of the midfield also meant that BU’s transition game, anchored by sophomore midfielder Cal Dearth, was nearly shut down completely. Polley said the goal for his side is to earn at least four transition goals each game. On Saturday, while Dearth scored twice, BU scored zero goals in transition.

Another area where BU struggled due to Navy’s intensity was on the man-advantage. The Terriers, who have the third-best man-up conversion rate in the Patriot League, went 0-for-6 on man-advantage opportunities Saturday.

By the game’s end, Navy’s physicality showed on the scoreboard and the stats sheet. In cruising to a 14-6 win, the Midshipmen won the overall ground ball battle 39 to 26, outshot the Terriers 42-28 and pressured BU into giving up 19 turnovers.

Polley, whose team now stands tied for second with the United States Military Academy, Colgate University and Loyola University Maryland in the conference standings, said increasing the Terriers’ physicality level will be necessary if they want to stand among the Patriot League’s best teams at the end of the season.

“They’re very physical. They’re very athletic. They’re big, fast and strong,” Polley said. “They were playing at a very high intensity level, and for us to continue winning against these strong teams, we need to match that level of intensity.”