Thanks in large part to an offensive outburst in the opening quarter and strong goalkeeping on the back end, the Boston University men’s lacrosse team extended a new program high for wins to start a season, dropping Bryant University 12-9 at Nickerson Field.
From the get-go, BU’s (5-0, 1-0 Patriot League) offense had a spark, scoring twice in the first five minutes and eventually racking up a 4-0 lead in the first quarter on a pair of goals from junior attacker Ryan Hilburn and two others by sophomore attacker James Burr, and senior midfielder Cal Dearth.
“It was a typical Tuesday night game where we played a really good team,” said BU head coach Ryan Polley. “They were really tough and we knew they weren’t going away. I thought we got off to a great start, up 4-0 and made some plays in transition.”
Bryant (2-3) finally broke the Terriers’ streak when Cam Ziegler scored the team’s lone goal of the opening frame with under five minutes left in the first quarter to make it 4-1.
BU senior goalie Christian Carson-Banister was impressive all night, making 12 saves on the evening, with most of his action coming in the first quarter.
“This guy right here [Carson-Banister] was unscorable,” Polley said. ”He made four or five saves to start the game that really calmed us down a bit and allowed us to get in the flow of the game and get out to that 4-0 lead.”
Carson-Banister credited the guys in front of him.
“Our defense did a great job pushing down the alley, lowering their angle, forcing a shot I could at least get something on,” said Carson-Banister.
The teams traded goals in the second, with BU scoring twice at even strength from junior midfielder Greg Farris and junior attacker Jack Wilson.
“They got some great shooters,” Polley said of Bryant. “I think a couple times we didn’t rotate out there quickly enough to their shooters and I think they made some great shots. It’s something that we’ve been struggling with a little bit and I think they exploited that.”
With the score 6-2 Terriers at the break, Bryant made a run, scoring all three third quarter goals to cut the BU lead to 6-5 before the end of the third period. First, freshman Jake Buonaiuto notched an even strength goal, followed by the Bulldogs’ second man up goal of the game by midfielders Tom Kennedy and midfielder Ryan Sharpe’s unassisted tally with 1:32 left in the stanza.
The fourth quarter saw an offensive explosion from the two teams, as they accumulated a combined 10 goals in the final frame.
Sophomore attacker James Burr and Wilson both scored their second goals of the night 20 seconds apart, to give BU some of their offensive cushion back. Bryant battled back with yet another man up goal as Dearth was out for an offside violation. Sharpe took full advantage, scoring his second of the game and making it a two-goal game again.
It took BU all of 12 seconds to respond, as sophomore long-stick midfielder Drew Lukacs ripped home an unassisted goal with 8:10 remaining. Not long after, Wilson finished off a play from Hilburn for his hat trick goal and a 10-6 BU lead.
The Terriers improved to 5-0 on the year and will face the United States Air Force Academy Saturday at home. It is the first time in the short history of the program that BU has started the season with five consecutive wins.
