The Boston University men’s lacrosse team fell behind early and was unable to recover as it fell to the No. 15 United States Military Academy by a score of 17-8 on Saturday.
The loss was the second straight for the Terriers (6-4, 3-3 Patriot League), as they lost to the No. 18 United States Naval Academy on March 28 by a score of 14-6. The Terriers are now fifth in the league standings, while the Black Knights (8-3, 4-2 Patriot League) climbed up to fourth.
“I thought that Army played a really strong game,” said BU coach Ryan Polley. “I thought they shot the ball extremely well, and they were really strong on the faceoffs.
“I just think that they outplayed us across the board. It was a tough matchup for us. Hats off to them.”
Freshman attack Ryan Hilburn notched his second hat trick in two games to lead the Terriers. Sophomore midfielder Cal Dearth and classmate attack Adam Schaal each had two assists, and freshman goalie Colin MacDougall had 11 saves in his second game replacing Christian Carson-Banister, who is out with an arm injury.
The Terriers were able to keep it close for the first six minutes of the game, but the Black Knights then scored five straight goals in a six-minute span to pull away. Senior John Glesener was able to notch four points in the Army run.
“I think it was a combination of things,” Polley said in regard to what caused his team’s sluggish start. “We were unable to get enough stops. I thought we had some poor turnovers on offense, and we weren’t winning faceoffs. I don’t think it was just one thing.
“Also, they just made a lot of good plays. They’re a very balanced offensive team, and they share the ball well. John Glesener is one of the best in the country. He had his way with us a little bit and had a really good game … Their offense was a little better than our defense today.”
A goal from Schaal with 7:15 left in the second period cut Army’s lead down to three, but the Black Knights responded with nine straight goals, making the score 16-4 and leaving little to no chance for a BU comeback.
Saturday marked the second straight game in which the Terriers, who led the Patriot League with 12.33 goals per game prior to the contest, have scored under nine goals. The Terriers also were averaging about 41 shots per game before Saturday, yet were only able to manage 28 against the Black Knights.
“We just have to get the ball to our offense,” Polley said. “I actually thought our offense played at an efficient clip this afternoon, but we just didn’t have possession enough. It comes down to getting stops on defense, finishing the play and clearing it, winning faceoffs and giving ourselves opportunities to score.”
Moving forward, Polley reiterated that the Terriers will need to focus on maintaining possession if they want to re-establish themselves as one of the top teams in the Patriot League.
“In the last two games, we haven’t cleared the ball enough and given the offense the chance to produce,” Polley said. “It comes down to getting possession and being more efficient. We had some silly turnovers and poor shots. Starting from the coaching staff down, we have to prepare better and get our confidence back up and prepare for this last stretch of the season.”
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
