The Boston University women’s lacrosse team has a top-heavy schedule, as planned by head coach Liz Robertshaw, and the latest manifestation of that will take place Saturday afternoon at Fairfield University.
The Terriers (0-1) will have their work cut out, as the Stags (1-0) advanced to the 2015 NCAA Tournament and return a balanced, yet potent, roster. Junior Alex Fehmel and senior Julieanne Mascera lead the charge, as they combined for 86 points just a season ago, and senior Chelsey Sidaras will likely start in goal.
Robertshaw said the whole Fairfield roster will pose a threat, though, and the game will challenge her team in myriad ways.
“The first competitions we have are against NCAA Tournament teams and that’s on purpose, because we need to challenge ourselves on the field against great teams who have that winning experience,” Robertshaw said. “It wouldn’t help us when we get to the Patriot League if we played games that were easy for us or blowouts. That doesn’t make us better in preparation for a strong conference, so we did this schedule on purpose and I think it’s a great challenge.”
Fresh in BU’s mind will be an 18-9 loss on Feb. 12 to city-rival and No. 9 Boston College. While BC (2-0) is a national contender, Robertshaw emphasized that her team learned many valuable lessons on the defensive side of the ball.
“One thing the Boston College game showed us was we need to adopt better,” Robertshaw said. “Defensively, we need to be ready for all different kinds of goal scoring, whether it’s one-on-ones or feeding. That’s one thing we’re working on — just accessing the situation, adjusting and going from there to find success.”
There’s also plenty of room for improvement on the offensive side of the ball, as BC kept the Terriers relatively quiet. Sophomore attack Mickenzie Larivee and senior attack Mallory Collins both netted a hat trick, but BU couldn’t more effectively capitalize on its 22 shots.
Robertshaw will look for her experienced core to exert its might against the Stags. Senior midfielders Jill Horka and Ally Adams, as well as Collins, will likely be sources of finishing and creativity.
“On the offensive side, the BC game exposed to us that some of our leaders got a little jammed up and a little uncomfortable in the situation presented,” Robertshaw said. “We’re working with them to make sure they feel confident in any situation presented.”
With various learning moments in mind, BU will also try and continue to blend its upperclassmen and underclassmen. Twelve players are either freshmen or sophomores, and Robertshaw knows getting them both on the same page can sometimes be a fickle endeavor.
“We want the knowledge from our experienced players to rub off on the younger ones,” Robertshaw said. “We also want them to set the tone of what is expected. For the younger players, we’re just encouraging them to play fearless. That’s always a challenge for younger female athletes because they’re worried about making mistakes, worried about their teammates being mad at them if they mess up.”
Robertshaw added that the coaching staff and juniors and seniors are constantly positive with the newcomers, but there are obstacles even they themselves face.
“Even our older players are still getting comfortable being the leaders of a team,” Robertshaw said. “It’s easier when it comes to practice, it’s harder when it comes to a game.”
Saturday’s game will only add more complexities to the aforementioned identity discovery, and earning a victory will be no easy task for BU. Fairfield should challenge BU in myriad ways, and Robertshaw hopes the contest helps her team peak when it matters the most.
“By the time we get to that mid-March and April schedule, we want to feel more confident of who we are as a team,” Robertshaw said. “That way, we’re not searching. We feel better about our strengths and our play, and we can continue to work on our weaknesses.”
Jonathan's a New Englander who writes about sports, features and politics. He currently covers men's hockey at BU, worked as Sports Editor during the spring 2016 semester and is on the FreeP's Board of Directors. Toss him a follow on Twitter at @jonathansigal.
