The Boston University women’s lacrosse team may have moved from the America East Conference to the Patriot League, but its rivalry with the University of New Hampshire remains. The two teams will face off in Durham, New Hampshire on Wednesday.
Both teams are coming off struggles, as BU (6-7, 4-3 Patriot League) has lost its past two contests and UNH (5-8) lost four games in a row in March.
That being said, BU coach Liz Robertshaw said she is not expecting one team to dominate the field come game time.
“There’s no way I expect this to be an easy game,” she said. “UNH and BU, since being in the America East together, has always been a rivalry game, and I think it’s going to be exactly the same.
“Yeah, they may be a little up and down in their conference and how they’re playing, but when they play against us, you know, you can take records, you can take rankings, you can take any of that out the window,” she added. “It’s always just a tough game and it’s something that since we left the conference, it was a game we wanted to keep on the schedule because it’s a rivalry game, and it means a lot.”
The Terriers have won six of their past eight matches against the Wildcats. However, they have split victories in the last four games, and UNH will be seeking to avenge BU’s 19-9 win from the 2014 season.
“It’s gonna be a scrappy game,” Robertshaw said. “I think it’s going to be whoever shows up and whoever wants to win is going to get it.”
While Wednesday’s game is a nonconference matchup, the Terriers will be looking to gain momentum as they prepare for the Patriot League Tournament, which begins Tuesday.
Robertshaw acknowledged that her team is feeling pressure to have a winning record, but said she is focused on the game plan for Wednesday’s game.
“For us, we want to possess the ball and limit our turnovers,” she said. “We had too many turnovers this past weekend. We need to make sure that we have great possession with the ball so that we’re not shooting ourselves in the foot, which is something that in the games we’ve lost, we’ve done. Game plan is really BU-focused. It’s not as much about who we’re playing. It’s about how can we play a better game.”
The Terriers have a balanced offensive attack as 14 players have combined for the team’s 116 goals this season. Thirteen UNH players have contributed to the team’s 121 total goals, though three far outscore the rest.
Senior Kayleigh Hinkle, who leads the Wildcats with 26 goals, junior Laura McHoul, who leads the team in points with 45 and has 22 goals, and senior Laura Puccia, who has 21 goals, all pace the UNH offense.
“We have to have good team defense,” Robertshaw said. “Obviously, we want to keep an eye on their top kids because they are scoring a good handful of goals, those few players. They are all very dangerous, and we need to make sure as a team, we limit their shots. I think there are times we did that really well against Loyola. We need to make sure to bring that this week.”
The Terriers’ top scorer, redshirt junior attack Mallory Collins, has tallied 33 goals this season in 13 games, good for fifth in the Patriot League in goals per game. However, Robertshaw said she thinks Collins is feeling the pressure to step up her game.
“I think that she hasn’t produced the way that necessarily she has wanted to on a consistent basis,” Robertshaw said. “Nor have we told her that she’s been playing at the level that she should be playing all the time. So I think she’s feeling it.”
Robertshaw said sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Meegan is also taking it upon herself to perform better in the final games of the 2015 season.
“I think for her, she just has a high expectation of what she wants to do for this defense and back her teammates up,” Robertshaw said. “Being a goalie … is really hard. There’s a lot on the line and you take a lot of things personally.
“I don’t think that’s pressure. You just have a huge heart if you’re going to be in cage.”
