The Boston University men’s lacrosse team suffered a loss on the road against No. 6 United States Military Academy on Saturday afternoon at Michie Stadium in a game with Patriot League Tournament implications.
The two teams went back and forth in an intense tilt, but Army (10-1, 6-0 Patriot League) ultimately came out on top with an 11-10 win.
Junior attack Jack Wilson of the Terriers (9-3, 3-3 Patriot League) got the scoring underway with an unassisted goal in the first quarter, granting his squad an early lead.
However, almost a minute later, the Terriers’ efforts were matched with a goal from Army attack Conor Glancy that tied up the score. Army dominated the remainder of the first quarter, capturing momentum with two more goals from attacks Cole Johnson and Nate Jones to bring the score to 3-1.
After refocusing during the break, BU opened up the second quarter with a goal from Wilson just eight seconds in, assisted by junior attack Ryan Hilburn. Two goals followed for the Terriers, with freshman midfielder John MacLean and senior attack Pat Myers each netting to give BU a 4-3 lead.
BU head coach Ryan Polley praised his team’s unselfish nature, but said it needs to look for its own opportunities more.
“We have a very unselfish team,” Polley said. “But just the way that Army plays defense, you kind of have to beat your man. That’s the way you have to score.”
With half a minute left in the quarter, Army midfielder Gunnar Miller evened the score at 4-4. That was short-lived though, as senior goaltender Christian Carson-Banister launched a full-field pass to attack James Burr as the half’s final seconds ticked away.
The sophomore finished past Army goaltender AJ Barretto with one second remaining to give BU a 5-4 lead heading into the second half.
More back-and-forth action characterized the third quarter, with the Black Knights earning a 3-2 edge in the stanza. Wilson and junior midfielder Hayden Ruiz netted, only for three different Army players to make it a 7-7 game heading into the final quarter.
“[Army] put a lot of pressure on you to kind of beat your man one-on-one,” Polley said. “And they force you to score that way.”
It was a heated fourth quarter, with both the Terriers and the Black Knights trading blows. The Terriers had the first two goals, one by Burr and the other by senior midfielder Cal Dearth, hoping to cling onto the lead.
However, Army scored four of the game’s final five goals, proving why they’re ranked sixth nationally. Even when Wilson gave the Terriers a brief 10-9 lead with five minutes remaining, it wasn’t enough to secure an upset.
“Jack’s been playing at such a high level,” Polley said. “It was nice to see him play as well as he did. He scored a bunch of different ways and got a bunch of our guys involved on the offense. [This] was Jack’s best game of his career.”
Despite the loss, Polley praised his team for its fight against one of the best teams in the country.
“Obviously, when you lose, you’re never happy about that,” Polley said. “But I was really proud of the way the guys battled and the effort that we gave, and I thought we played a really strong game.”
It sure was an exciting game! We thought BU had it but last minute efforts by Army nailed their victory. We are Jack Wilson’s grandparents and of course we love him and are proud of his contributions to BU Lacrosse.
Go Terriers!!!!!
Go Terriers!!!!