The Boston University men’s lacrosse team will continue its road trip when it travels to West Point, New York to face the United States Military Academy.
After the Terriers (9-2, 3-2 Patriot League) fell 10-6 to Lehigh University last Saturday, they will look for a win to secure a spot in this season’s Patriot League tournament.
While BU’s 7-0 start was ended by Bucknell University on March 18, the Black Knights (9-1, 5-0 Patriot League) have had an eight-game winning streak since Feb. 20.
Army also recently beat Bucknell (4-6, 2-4 Patriot League) in a close 11-10 game to ensure its spot in the Patriot League tournament.
In order for the Terriers to end the Black Knights’ winning ways, they will have to put up a strong performance.
“I think at the end of the day, Army is a great program,” said BU head coach Ryan Polley. “They’ve played well against us, and we haven’t really played our best games against them, so I think our team is poised and really looking forward to this weekend and playing a really strong game.”
Although his team has not had success against Army, junior attacker Ryan Hilburn has. In the last two matchups, Hilburn has notched a hat trick in each contest.
“He’s been consistent all year,” said Polley. “I think Ryan has been pretty productive against all teams. Certainly against Army he’s been able to try to find the back of the net, so it would be helpful to get a few things in.”
While BU excels at moving the ball around, almost half of Army’s goals have been unassisted. The Black Knights also possess a similar offensive depth to the Terriers’, as nine players have accumulated nine points or more.
Attackers Cole Johnson and Nate Jones lead Army’s offense with 20 goals each. The Black Knights also wield midfielders David Symmes and Ted Glesener, who have been productive in front of the net.
This offensive depth built on individual effort will pose a test for the BU defense, but Polley noted that it will be important to limit Army’s shots.
“I think the biggest thing with them is not allowing them to have free open shots,” Polley said. “[Symmes and Glesener are] both excellent time and room shooters, so it’s kind of on our defense to just make sure that we stay close to them and challenge all their shots.”
Army has the highest man-up success in the Patriot League at 43.8 percent, which will prove detrimental if the Terriers give it the opportunity. Although, BU has killed 57.6 percent of its penalties, and senior goaltender Christian Carson-Banister remains a constant backbone for the team.
The Black Knights will likely start goaltender AJ Barretto, who posts a 0.547 save percent and 7.08 goals against average.
While BU has a slight edge in goaltending, the game will boil down to who can get possession.
The Black Knights have been strong in ground ball battles, collecting 35.70 per game while the Terriers collect 31.8 per game. However, Polley looks forward to ground ball battles.
“It’s been one of our strongest things all year,” Polley said. “I know Army’s very good at that same thing. [I’m] looking forward to us competing against one of the better ground ball teams in the country, but I’m confident our guys are going to battle and do a really nice job off the ground.”
The Terriers have struggled maintaining the ball, a factor that proved detrimental against Lehigh (5-4, 3-3 Patriot League), as they had 22 turnovers and currently average 14.27 per game.
Army has also won 66.1 percent of its faceoffs overall, so BU junior midfielder and faceoff specialist Joe Stucky will play an important role.
Polley stressed that in order to maintain the ball, the team will have to make better decisions and remain aware of the importance of possession.
“I think we just made some bad decisions against Lehigh for some things and it didn’t go particularly well,” said Polley. “Like any game, it’s important to maximize your possession, but especially against Army who’s so hard to score on and can shut you down.”
