Women’s lacrosse advances to Patriot League semifinals with win over Bucknell

The Boston University women’s lacrosse team will advance to the next round of the Patriot League Tournament following its 18-8 win over Bucknell University Tuesday afternoon.

The Bison (10-8, 4-5 Patriot League) opened the scoring just 19 seconds after the opening faceoff. A BU turnover in the neutral zone resulted in a 2-on-1 opportunity for Bucknell midfielder Maddy Molinari. The Manhasset, New York, native capitalized on the Terriers’ sloppy play to give her side the early 1-0 lead.

However, the Terriers (10-7, 6-3 Patriot League) were able to bounce back quickly, as freshman midfielder Kaitlin Belval knifed through the Bison defense and ripped a shot past Bucknell goalkeeper Jamie DeWitt to tie the game at one apiece.

Freshman midfielder Kelly Mathews gave the Terriers the 2-1 lead three minutes later, but Bucknell midfielder Gretchen Richter soon knotted the score at two.

Less a minute later, BU sophomore midfielder Sarah Andersen capitalized on a free position opportunity and senior attack Mallory Collins tallied a goal to put the Terriers back on top by two goals.

The Bison rallied back however, with four straight unanswered goals. Molinari, senior Emily Becker, sophomore Eve Lukowski and junior Christina Manis helped give Bucknell a 6-4 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half.

Right before halftime, BU tied it up 6-6 on the first of sophomore attack Mickenzie Larivee’s four goals of the day.

“In the first half, I think it was a great back and forth game,” said BU head coach Liz Robertshaw. “In the second half it was the same thing, but I think we did a better job of getting draw controls. [Senior midfielder] Jill Horka had 13, which is amazing.”

The second half was all Terriers, as they maintained possession for most of the frame and outscored the Bison 12-2.

“I thought we did a better job of shooting overall,” Robertshaw said. “I just felt we were more present. I told the girls at halftime, ‘Don’t get locked into a scoreboard or be worried about losing, just get locked into how we want to play,’ and I think they did a better job of that.”

Collins opened the half with two free position goals and senior midfielder Ally Adams followed with a goal of her own to give BU the 9-6 lead.

Bucknell scraped one past BU goalkeeper Caroline Meegan midway through the period, but the Terriers responded with six unanswered goals from the sticks of Larivee, Adams, Collins and sophomore attack Avery Donahoe. This gave BU a commanding 15-7 lead with just over seven minutes remaining.

After Bison senior Ally Furbay narrowed the deficit by one, the Terriers increased their lead even further courtesy of Donahoe and Mathews.

The 18-8 win is exactly the way the Terriers would have liked to start Patriot League tournament action, and Robertshaw credits the seniors especially for stepping up.

“I think it’s a great win,” Robertshaw said. “Credit to Bucknell. They’re a good team and they’ve made a huge turnaround. [The seniors] were huge. [Senior defender] Sofia Robins diving for a ball with 20 seconds to go tells me how much she wanted this game. Ally Adams scoring a major goal when we needed it, those are big moment plays.”

After a crushing loss last season against Loyola University Maryland in the Patriot League semifinals, the Terriers will get a chance to redeem themselves in the semifinals for a third consecutive year.

They move on to play the United States Naval Academy on Friday in Baltimore, and momentum will certainly be on their side following Tuesday’s victory.

“We need to rest a little bit,” Robertshaw said. “We have Navy [12-5, 7-2 Patriot League], and I think the big thing for us is to focus on what we want to do with our game plan. We know how they’re going to play — they’re an aggressive team — and we need to make sure to bring our best game down to Maryland. We’re just excited to get there.”