Coming off a hard-fought overtime victory against Fairfield University, the Boston University women’s lacrosse team successfully continued its strong play defeating Bucknell University 13-8 on the road.
The win marked the first time the Terriers (3-4, 1-0 Patriot League) have won consecutive games this season.
The scoring started early for the Terriers, who claimed an early 4-0 advantage, grabbing a lead that they would never look back from.
The game was at its closest near the end of the first half when Bucknell (5-3, 0-1 Patriot League) midfielder Morgan Steinhacker scored to cut the BU lead to one goal. However, with only three minutes left in the half, the Terriers stretched their lead again.
Senior attacker Elisabeth Jayne scored a quick goal, followed by another goal from freshman midfielder Mackenzie Howe. The score after the first half was 8-5, which gave the Terriers plenty of momentum heading into the halftime break.
The second half then started off similar to their first half, as BU came out with more energy and scored four goals in a row, taking a 12-5 lead, which created a daunting deficit for the Bison.
Howe led the way in scoring, netting four of the Terriers’ thirteen goals. Five more Terriers had at least two goals in the victory: sophomore midfielder Kaitlin Belval, senior attacker Taylor Hardison, junior attacker Mickenzie Larivee and Jayne.
BU head coach Liz Robertshaw praised her team’s offense in the win.
“Mackenzie Howe looked really good today with her four goals,” Robertshaw said. “[Freshman attacker] Kailey Conry also had three assists and did a really good job finding her teammates. Overall we had some really nice play from a lot of the players today.”
Perhaps more impressive than the scoring, however, was the stellar defense the Terriers exhibited all game.
On the defensive side, Robertshaw said her team remained focused.
“We were just trying to limit their looks and make them feel uncomfortable on the attacking end, and I think we did a nice job on that,” Robertshaw said.
The Bison, who were limited to only eight goals — including just three in the entire second half — have had a high-scoring offense all season. Earlier in the year, they had back-to-back wins over Monmouth University and Wagner College, totaling 30 goals in just two games.
Stopping their offense was going to be a big challenge for the Terriers, so Robertshaw was happy to see them rise up.
“Our defense as a whole did a really good job on them,” Robertshaw said. “[Senior goalkeeper] Caroline Meegan came up with some big time saves today. She was just stellar at the goal cage and came up with some really big saves on point blank shots.”
Robertshaw also praised the play of senior defender Janelle Macone and junior defender Maria Guerra on defense. Guerra was tasked with the tough job of guarding senior Christina Manis, whose 80 career assists are the most career assists in Bucknell women’s lacrosse history. Guerra held her to just one.
The Terriers have seen their underclassmen perform well this season, and the trend continued in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Conry stood out once again with her good play, providing a game-high three assists.
Additionally, Howe and her four goals were also a game-high.
Despite the victory, Robertshaw acknowledged the need for improvement in some areas. Most notably, the Terriers lost the battle on draws, with only six compared to Bucknell’s 16.
“We were a little weak on the draw controls today, and that’s something we’re looking to improve on,” Robertshaw said.
