Riding a three-game winning streak, the No. 13 Boston University field hockey team faces two tough matchups this weekend in its final home regular season matchups of the year. The College of the Holy Cross comes to town for a Friday tilt, and then BU (10-4, 3-1 Patriot League) will face off against No. 3 Syracuse University on Sunday.
The Crusaders (8-5, 3-2 Patriot League) come into Friday’s matchup with a three-game win streak of their own.
Since the beginning of October, the Crusaders have only lost once, a 2-0 shutout at the hands of Temple University on Oct. 2. In their most recent game on Tuesday against Quinnipiac University, they won 2-1 in overtime.
BU head coach Sally Starr expects it to be a grind-it-out game on Friday night, and the Crusaders should not go down easily.
“For Holy Cross and for us it’s a big conference game,” Starr said. “They’re going to be coming in, home or away, looking to play a really good conference game to try to secure a trip to the conference tournament. I don’t think being home or away really matters to them quite honestly.”
Holy Cross has struggled on the road in 2016, going only 1-3 in games played away from Worcester.
Throughout the season, the Crusaders have struggled to generate offense, averaging only 1.69 goals per game. They put forth an average of 11.8 shots per contest, while their opponents average 14.2.
Look for the Terriers to attack Holy Cross’ weaknesses, and utilize their various weapons. Among these weapons are this week’s Patriot League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week in senior forward Madeline McClain and senior midfielder Ellie Landsman, respectively.
That being said, Starr knows that her team must remain focused throughout the entire 70 minutes.
“I think it’s a matter of really focusing on ourselves doing the things we need to do well fundamentally,” Starr said. “Execute the gameplan and play with a lot of collective energy. [It comes down to who is] more skilled and who is more ready to play the game on that day.”
The Orange (12-2), on the other hand, have a .857 win percentage and a solid road record of 4-2. They are a very versatile team, led by junior playmaker Lies Lagerweij. The Delft, Netherlands product has a team-leading 11 goals on the season.
They create scoring opportunities at an alarming rate, and currently own the sixth-best goals-per-game average in the nation at 3.60.
Despite their strong play this season, the Orange come into Sunday’s game having been shut out 1-0 by the No. 9 University of Virginia last Saturday.
As if Starr’s side didn’t have enough motivation with this being the second-to-last game of the regular season, BU has struggled against the Orange in recent years. Syracuse has topped the Terriers in each matchup during the last five years, defeating them in each of their four meetings. This includes a 2-1 NCAA Tournament loss in 2014.
Sunday’s game will give the Terriers a chance to end their four-game drought against Syracuse, and gain grab valuable momentum heading into the postseason.
According to Starr, her team will be ready.
“I think our defense is really capable of playing outstanding defense against really good teams, and we’ve proven that,” Starr said. “And I think our offense has gotten a lot better, so we’ll be able to generate a good attack as well.”
