The Boston University field hockey advanced their record to 8-5 after two victories over the long weekend against conference foe American University and crosstown rival Northeastern University.
The Terriers also earned first place in the Patriot League with their 2-1 win against American (10-4, 3-1 Patriot League) on Saturday on New Balance Field. On Monday, the Terriers outscored Northeastern 5-1 in Dedham.
Going into the matchup against the Eagles, the Terriers (8-5, 3-0 Patriot League) were ranked below the American Eagles, No. 25 and No. 24 respectively, according to Boston University Athletics. With first place in the Patriot League on the line and a history of competitive play between the two teams the game was bound to be a solid fight to the finish.
“When we came into the conference 5 or 6 years ago I really knew that we’d be competing with them for championships,” head coach Sally Starr said. “Our games against American are always battles, they’re always hard fought, well played, well coached games.”
Saturday’s face off was no different. The Terriers held a 1-0 lead against American entering the second half thanks to junior Maika Akroyd’s corner goal in the first half assisted by freshman Petra Hall and and senior Kali Schumock in the 24th minute.
Neither team found additional success in finding the back of the cage — until American’s Kathryn Roncoroni scored at the 63rd minute to get the Eagles on the board tying it up 1-1.
Senior Grace Boston sealed the 2-1 win for the Terriers with a goal off of a corner, to take first place in the Patriot League Conference.
Starr said she was pleased with the outcome, but stressed the importance of taking the rest of the season game by game.
“The team that usually wins this is usually the team that gets to host the Patriot League tournament and that’s a huge advantage, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to win it,” Starr said. “It definitely puts us in the driver’s seat for being able to host, but we still have some really good conference games coming up.
On Monday, the Terriers tool on Northeastern (7-6) to take on the Huskies. The pouring rain did not affect the Terrier’s play as they brought home a 6-1 victory against Northeastern.
Senior Allie Renzi scored her first goal of the season off of a corner just in the seventh minute to give the Terriers a 1-0 advantage. Freshman Ailsa Connolly, the Terriers leading scorer, added her eighth tally of the season before Renzi scored her second goal to put the Terriers up 3-0 in the 20th minute.
Shumock then scored her first goal of the season to put the Terriers up 4-0. With seven seconds left in the first half, Northeastern finally got on the scoreboard when Jamie Bartucca netted her 13th tally of the season.
Shumock scored again before Hall scored one of her own off of a rebound with just under 5 minutes to play putting the Terriers up 6-1.
With two back-to-back wins under their belt, the Terriers look forward to taking the rest of season game by game, which Starr stressed.
“We’d love to finish regular season champions but Holy Cross is next on the calendar,” Starr said.
