For some teams, a second-quarter deficit to a cellar-dwelling Lafayette College team could be cause for concern.
Not for the No.19 Boston University men’s lacrosse team, which has ridden a formidable offensive unit to its best start in program history.
After falling behind 4-3 at the conclusion of the first quarter, the Terriers (9-1, 3-1 Patriot League) rattled off a convincing offensive surge. They planted eight consecutive goals in the back of the Lafayette (1-7, 1-4 Patriot League) net, building a 10-4 advantage by the end of the half and killing the Leopards’ momentum, leading to a 15-7 in-conference victory.
“[The second period] was the turning point in the game,” said BU head coach Ryan Polley. “Guys were playing hard and with a lot of energy. We got out in transition and scored a couple. Our execution was a little bit better and we got stops.”
One of the keys in BU’s win over Lafayette was its varied attack. The Leopards have the worst defense in the Patriot League, allowing 13.75 goals per game, and BU took advantage.
Receiving various contributions from a plethora of players, the Terriers eclipsed their goals per game average of 11.8.
Senior long-stick midfielder Greg Wozniak joined the fun with 6:24 remaining in the second quarter, becoming the 22nd Terrier to record a goal this season. Less than 90 seconds later, senior attacker and midfielder Ryan Johnston scored his second goal of the year on a man-up opportunity. Freshman defender and long-stick midfielder Chase Levesque rounded out the fun with his fourth goal of the season at 6:19 of the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
To finish up the Terriers’ scoring with 45 seconds remaining, junior attacker Kyle Parsons garnered his second goal of the season, concluding BU’s team-wide victorious effort.
Although the Terriers had 11 different scorers, one of them stood out the most. Do not allow the freshman moniker to fool you — midfielder John MacLean is a force to be reckoned with.
After recording his first career hat trick Tuesday night in a 13-8 win over Harvard University, MacLean came back and did the same thing against Lafayette, requiring just five shots to accomplish the feat.
He netted his first goal with 2:53 left in the second quarter to hand BU a six-goal lead before scoring twice in the fourth quarter, including a goal with 2:25 remaining that silenced a two-goal Lafayette run.
A hot offense gave the Terriers crucial momentum that translated well onto the other side of the field. After yielding a goal to Leopards senior Kevin Lewis with 1:03 left in the first quarter, the Terriers completely repressed Lafayette’s offensive presence. Piloted by senior goalkeeper Christian Carson-Banister, BU pitched a shutout until the 3:32 mark in the third, muting any resemblance of a Leopards surge.
The parts around Carson-Banister also played a paramount role in the shutdown performance. The Terriers forced 16 turnovers that day. The team also out-hustled Lafayette, owning the ground ball battle to the tune of a 31-16 margin.
If the Terriers’ variety of offensive weapons continues to step up the way they did against Lafayette, BU has nowhere to go but up in the NCAA rankings.
“One of the things that makes us tough to guard is that we are so balanced,” Polley said. “Out of the 10 goals, six were assisted, so we are really pleased about that. To have [11] different scorers is really impressive. If we continue to share the ball and guys continue to step up and make shots, we are hard to defend against.”
