The Boston University men’s lacrosse team will attempt to put its worst game of the season in the rear-view mirror when it travels to Loyola University Maryland Saturday for a crucial Patriot League matchup.
A win will clinch the Terriers (8-4, 3-3 Patriot League) a playoff spot for the first time in program history. However, the team heads into this weekend’s contest having lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. BU’s last game was a 15-4 defeat at the hands of the United States Military Academy, in which the Black Knights (8-3, 5-1 Patriot League) opened the scoring with a 9-0 run.
Despite their recent struggles, the Terriers can take comfort in traveling to take on the Greyhounds (8-3, 5-1 Patriot League). BU holds a 4-1 record in away games, while going 4-3 at Nickerson Field so far. BU head coach Ryan Polley’s squad even scores better in opponent’s stadiums, averaging 10.8 goals per game on the road while tallying an average of 8.42 goals at home.
“There’s probably less distractions when we go on the road,” Polley explained. “When you’re away, you’re in the hotel, you’re with the team, you’re just really focused on what you got to do. So, our guys have done a great job away from home just being focused and doing their daily routines and making sure they’re ready to play on Saturdays.”
Sophomore attack Jack Wilson, who leads BU in points, said the team treats away games like a “business trip.”
“When we’re on the road, we’re always really focused,” Wilson said. “We’re focused in the hotel, we get through our meetings, watch our film. I think just being together the whole time over the weekend really helps.”
The Terriers will have their hands full with a balanced Loyola team. The Greyhounds do many things well and their record reflects that. The team has won four consecutive games and sits tied for second in the conference standings. Led by freshman Pat Spencer, whose 46 points are the second-most in the league, Loyola provides a daunting challenge for a BU team trying to secure a tournament berth.
In order to knock off the Greyhounds, Polley’s team will have to limit the amount of shots its opponent takes. Loyola ranks second in the conference in both shots per game and shots on goal per game, with 39.1 and 22.1, respectively.
Polley stressed the importance of defending the same way BU has all season.
“We’ve just got to play our defense,” Polley said. “Challenge shooters, make sure that if they do get an opportunity to shoot the ball that we’re on their hands and not allowing them to shoot the ball uncontested. Then, we have to be smart with the ball. We have to clear the ball well and limit our turnovers so they don’t get multiple chances at scoring.”
If the Terriers are able to get past the Greyhounds, it won’t be the first time the program has earned huge bounce-back wins. After suffering its first loss of the season to the University of Hartford in February, BU responded with a 10-9 overtime victory over No. 10 United States Naval Academy a week later. The Terriers also snuck by then-No.14 Harvard University on March 22 three days after dropping a 13-6 game at Bucknell University.
With those kinds of results, it’s clear that the Terriers have what it takes to brush tough losses aside and come out firing. This extends to the team’s motto, “win the next game.”
“That’s kind of been our motto all season,” Wilson added. “We’ve had some tough losses, but luckily we’ve been able to bounce back from those so far, so we just have to focus on what we can control, and that’s pretty much the key.”
Polley said the key to coming back strong after a loss is to stick to what you’ve been doing all year in practice.
“We just take it one game at a time, whether we win or we lose,” Polley said. “We kind of have a progression of things that we do when we’re preparing for a team, so nothing really changes whether we win or lose … We have a resilient group, and our staff does a really good job preparing them. The message is whether we win or lose, we come back and we do the same things in practice the next week.”
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
