The Boston University men’s lacrosse team had to endure the 20 degree weather at Cushing Field, but found itself with another win in the 2017 season against the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Echoing last year’s victory, the Terriers (2-0) won their second game of the season against the River Hawks (0-1) with a 18-8 victory.
In a game featuring two young teams, Lowell, in just its third season and BU, entering its fourth, the Terriers were able to get the better of the River Hawks.
Despite the snowy field, BU started the scoring less than two minutes into the contest with a goal from junior attacker Jack Wilson.
In an opposite start of last weekend’s game against Providence College, BU took a 4-0 lead.
“I think that was important for us scoring on those early possessions kind of made everybody relax and then I think we just let our athleticism take over,” said BU head coach Ryan Polley.
Lowell was able to cut BU’s lead in half quickly, after junior midfielder Jon Phillips capitalized on their man up opportunity, and junior midfielder Cory Highfield scored 13 seconds after getting some momentum from the face-off.
The second quarter proved even more successful for BU when senior attacker Michael Carbone extended the Terriers’ lead with an unassisted goal in the second quarter and the team went on to net six unanswered goals within a seven minute span.
“I thought we started controlling the faceoffs. I thought [junior midfielder and faceoff specialist] Joe Stucky did a great job winning the clamp and did some great work on the ground as well and possessing the ball,” Polley said.
Junior attacker and midfielder Sean Tyrrell broke the run and scored the River Hawks’ lone goal of the quarter with three minutes remaining.
Sophomore attacker James Burr retaliated with another goal, completing his hat trick in the first half. In last year’s game, the Hamilton native found similar success with a career-high of four goals.
“It was good to have him back, and he’s been working really hard with his rehab,” Polley said. “He’s shooting the ball three-for-three and just did a great job so he adds another dimension to our team as a prolific scorer and makes some great shots.”
Though Lowell went on to score five more times in the last 30 minutes of the game, BU responded with six of their own.
Senior midfielder Cal Dearth had three assists in the third quarter and finished the game with one goal and five assists.
The Terriers’ offense kept the pressure on and proved themselves productive on the field in the high-scoring game, as junior midfielder Greg Farris solidified the win in the last minutes of the game.
“I saw a lot of guys’ score and that’s important for us, to be balanced and having guys like Carbone come in,” Polley said. “Our second line got some production from both sides so I thought it was overall a really balanced attack.”
Compared to last weekend’s come-from-behind victory, the Terriers dominated the game. They won 20 out of 29 faceoffs, 17 different players collected a point and the team kept a large lead against its opponent throughout the game.
Senior goalkeeper Christian Carson-Banister, recently named the Corvias Goalkeeper of the Week, stood out with 14 saves throughout the game.
Along with three other goalies, BU had a total of 25 saves and kept the River Hawks to only eight goals for the afternoon.
Though the team still struggled with turnovers and had 20 compared to Lowell’s 11, Polley stayed optimistic following the victory.
“I think we’re gonna have to just practice it and talk about it and preach it,” said Polley. “It’s a little frustrating but it’s something that we certainly will continue to harp on and it kind of hurts us in the clearing game so it’s almost double fold.”
