The Boston University women’s lacrosse team will open up its season Saturday afternoon against rival No. 4 Boston College at Nickerson Field.
The Terriers have had consistently successful seasons recently, going over 50 percent in Patriot League play the last four years.
Last year, the team finished 10-8 overall and posted a solid 6-3 conference record. Most of these wins came at home, as the Terriers posted an impressive 6-2 record at Nickerson.
BU was fourth in the conference in goals per game with 12.39, and second in assists per game with 6.83.
Entering this season, the Terriers have been selected to finish fourth in the league, while the United States Naval Academy, last year’s conference champion, is predicted to finish first.
Most other teams in the conference have already opened up their 2018 schedules. While this could potentially be a disadvantage for the Terriers, BU head coach Liz Robertshaw noted that her team is becoming well-prepared for Saturday’s opener.
“We’re just really trying to get comfortable playing as an attacking unit as well as our defense,” Robertshaw said. “We graduated almost our entire starting defense, so [we] want to make sure that we feel confident and comfortable with the new people. We’re really working to try and get the newcomers comfortable in our attacking scheme.”
A remaining defensive starter from last season is senior defender Maria Guerra. She and senior attack Avery Donahoe were recently announced as the co-captains for the 2018 season.
Last year, Donahoe scored 33 goals and had nine assists.
Guerra played a crucial role for the BU defense, collecting 18 ground balls and leading the team with 20 caused turnovers alongside former defender Talley Perkins.
“They’ve done a great job of setting the standard,” Robertshaw said of the new co-captains. “How do we practice? How do we compete? What’s our expectation level of how we carry ourselves on and off the field? It’s been really good for those freshmen to get on board quicker.”
Last season, the Terriers lost to Loyola University Maryland in the Patriot League semifinals by the score of 19-14. This semifinal loss marked the third straight year that BU’s season came to an end one game short of the championship matchup.
The Terriers have shown consistency in recent years, enough to make it to the conference tournament, but have been unable to get over the hump and make it to the finals since its loss to Loyola back in 2014.
Robertshaw said she is confident that improvements made during the offseason will allow her team to gain momentum and make it to the championship game once again.
“I think if our team can do a better job on focusing on every single game and do our best to compete in that game and not look ahead … We’ll be in a much better place to compete,” Robertshaw said. “We need to feel our best going into every single game and treat it like it’s the most important.”
Saturday’s matchup will be not be easy for the Terriers.
BC (2-0) is ranked fourth in the nation, and has already gotten off to a 2-0 start after wins over the University of Notre Dame and the College of the Holy Cross.
The Eagles have dominated in recent matchups against the Terriers. The last time BU won against BC was in 2009.
“We have to play fast, we need to combat them,” Robertshaw said. “We need to get some of the kinks out quickly against a top-10 team like Boston College. We need to compete hard on every single draw control.”
One of those scorers that the Terriers will have to be aware of is junior attack Sam Apuzzo. She already has eight goals to start the season, and is coming off of a six-goal performance in the Eagles’ dominant 20-2 win against Holy Cross (0-2, 0-1 Patriot League) Tuesday afternoon.
Senior attack Kaileen Hart also poses an offensive threat. Her five points against then-No.15 Notre Dame (0-1) won her Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.
BU will also hope to combat BC with some talented players of their own. Sophomore attack Kailey Conry was recently named to the All-Patriot League team and will likely be an integral part of the Terriers’ game plan.
Last season, she won two Patriot League Rookie of the Week awards, and finished tied for second in the nation with three assists per game. She led the team with 68 points, setting a BU record with 54 assists while contributing 14 goals.
Despite the challenging opponent the Terriers will face on Saturday, Robertshaw is confident that her team can come out on top if it sticks to its game plan.
“On offense, we need to create great scoring looks and we’re starting to see some of those this week,” Robertshaw said. “And defensively, we need to limit their scorers and do a good job of hunkering down and playing some great team defense.”
