The No. 19 Boston University men’s lacrosse team will look to get back in the win column when it plays Harvard University at Nickerson Field on Tuesday night.
After a disappointing first loss of the season against Patriot League rival Bucknell University, the Terriers’ (7-1, 2-1 Patriot League) seven-consecutive winning streak was snapped. However, it has not deterred the team from staying focused on improving.
“We feel fine,” said BU head coach Ryan Polley. “It was a tough game this weekend, but we had a great practice today and we’re excited about getting a chance to turn around and play so quickly.”
Things for the Crimson (4-2) have likewise not been great, as they enter this contest in the midst of a two-consecutive losing streak following a 4-0 start to the season.
On Saturday, Harvard saw a 13-8 loss to Brown University, after it was outscored 10-4 in the first half and unable to capture a lead.
However, the Crimson possess offensive players with commanding presences on the field, which will pose a threat to senior goaltender Christian Carson-Banister, who allowed a season high of 12 goals past him over the weekend. Though, the Dallas, Texas native boasts a .636 save percentage and 12 saves per game.
Despite the team’s recent struggles, Harvard has talent to compete with the Terriers. Most notably, junior attacker Morgan Cheek and junior midfielder Joe Lang return as top players for Harvard this season.
Cheek, who was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, registered his fifth hat trick against Brown (2-3) and leads the Crimson in goals (21), assists (14) and points (35), while Lang is second on the team with eight goals and six assists.
“He might be, if not the best player, definitely the top three players individually that we’ll have to play all year,” Polley said of Cheek. “He can score in a variety of ways, he kind of gets his teammates involved, which makes him so great that he’s unselfish, but he definitely has that scorer’s mentality so [that’s] definitely going to be a challenge for us.”
Junior Robert Shaw returns in between the pipes as the Crimson’s main goaltender. He currently boasts a .561 save percentage and the rest of Harvard’s defense posts a 10.55 goals against average.
Although BU’s formidable offense has found itself unable to produce in some quarters, the trio of senior attacker Cal Dearth and junior attackers Jack Wilson and Ryan Hilburn have all hit the 20-point mark. The trio has been the most consistent part of BU’s attack, with each member recording a point in every game this season.
“I’m excited to see how we bounce back,” Polley said. “They have a great defense and if we do what we do; dodge with pace, share the ball, be unselfish and shoot well, I think we’ll have some great opportunities to score. They’ve got a nice goalkeeper, but I think our offense is ready to play well.”
Junior midfielder and faceoff specialist Joe Stucky, who has filled in for senior midfielder Sam Talkow, one of the best faceoff specialists in the country last year, will play an essential role when facing off against the Crimson’s junior James Sullivan.
“I thought Joe did a really nice job against a good guy at Bucknell,” Polley said. “To be over 50 percent was fairly helpful and he did really well in the second half, which he’s done in couple games and it has really helped us. I think he’s getting more comfortable after taking a majority of the faceoffs and he’s done a really nice job for us.”
BU will look to build off its 9-8 win at Harvard Stadium last season. Just like its overall season records, the Terriers have only improved with each following year and look to do the same this season.
“[Last weekend’s loss] was a little bit of a step back, but we’re going to be fine and we’ll bounce back,” Polley said. “I know we’ll play a great game against a great team tomorrow night and we’ll kind of just see what happens.”
