While the Boston University men’s lacrosse team’s 15-4 defeat this past weekend to No. 20 United States Military Academy was concerning, the toughest pill to swallow was arguably the injury sustained by midfielder Brendan Homire.
The freshman went down clenching his right knee, and any prolonged absence would require the Terriers (8-4, 3-3 Patriot League) to be without their team leader in assists (15). However, BU head coach Ryan Polley said the door could be open for others to grow into an increased role.
“It is kind of on the coaches to put them in positions to be successful, and we’ll encourage the second line to be better,” Polley said. “We’ll take a look at [sophomore midfielder] Hayden [Ruiz] and [freshman midfielder] Tristan [Ruh] and other guys in those spots and give them an opportunity based on their week of practice.”
Homire’s return to the field is still uncertain, but BU will push forward collectively regardless of whether or not the Huntington, New York native is good to go.
“We are going to lean on a little bit of everybody,” the third-year head coach said. “Everybody is going to have to step up, whether it is your front-line guy, your second-line guy or third-line guy that is given an opportunity because Brendan can or can’t go this weekend.”
Greg Wozniak shines bright in defense
One shining moment from the loss to the Black Knights (8-3, 5-1 Patriot League) was junior defenseman Greg Wozniak’s performance.
He tied his career high of eight ground balls and set a new program record of six caused turnovers. Previously a long-stick midfielder, Wozniak has seamlessly slid alongside freshman Quintin Germain and junior Dominick Calisto in defense.
“Greg has been doing great, and we just wanted to get Greg on the field as much as we could,” Polley said. “He was such a dynamic player when we had him at long-stick. He’s taken every other shift, and he’s not on the field 100 percent of the time, so we really thought by moving him down that he can be on the field the entire game. It has been a move that has really helped us out.”
James Burr continues strong rookie campaign
Even though BU couldn’t cut Army’s lead to less than seven goals, freshman attack James Burr was not shaken. He found the back of the net once and continues to be a consistent contributor.
“I think James’ production is a byproduct of our offense being efficient in dodging, moving the ball and sharing the ball,” Polley said. “James can be on the back end and do what he does best, which is finish shots and score goals.”
Burr has 21 goals and four assists on the year, but Polley said the scoring burden falls on others’ shoulders as well.
“When our offense is playing well, James is getting a lot of opportunities,” Polley said. “And when we are not playing well, a lot of guys aren’t getting opportunities, including James. I think from an offensive standpoint, we just have to be more efficient and better and create opportunities from not only him but for other players as well.”
Confidence in Christian Carson-Banister remains high
In BU’s path from infancy to consistency, junior goalkeeper Christian Carson-Banister has been a steady presence.
However, after struggling against the Black Knights, he was pulled in favor of sophomore Colin MacDougall. They combined for only eight saves, and Polley said the switch was a necessary one.
“It was kind of just for him to clear his head a little bit and just watch the game a little bit, recollect himself and he did great,” Polley said.
Carson-Banister was put back in for the entire second half, and Polley affirmed that his go-to goalie will be ready to take on Loyola University Maryland next weekend.
“We still have a ton of confidence in Christian, and I really expect him to bounce back big time and play great,” Polley said. “And you know, goalie is a tough position and you can’t lose your confidence. You have to have a short memory because the next shot’s coming, and he’s been so good at that over the last 2 1/2 or three years, so he’ll bounce back.”
Jonathan Sigal contributed to the reporting of this article.
