After heading out on the road to Easton, Pennsylvania, the Boston University women’s lacrosse team came out with a 16-8 win against Lafayette College Saturday afternoon.
The Terriers (3-4, 1-1 Patriot League) have been continuously victorious in their matchups against the Leopards (3-6, 0-2 Patriot League), having won every single game against them since the two teams started facing each other back in 2014.
The Terriers began their 2018 season against tough opponents like No. 6 Boston College and No. 16 Duke University, and BU head coach Liz Robertshaw noted the importance of those games early on.
“I’m happy that we played those teams,” Robertshaw said. “I’m happy that we got exposed to that level of play. But this team right now needs to get comfortable winning, and gaining confidence winning.”
BU got off to an early start in the game, with senior attack Avery Donahoe firing one past Lafayette freshman goalkeeper Quinn Lacy 44 seconds into the game.
This was just one of Donahoe’s five goals over the first half, and she finished with six on the day.
Freshman attack Ava Barry and senior midfielder and defender Sarah Andersen both followed with a goal apiece.
With the Leopards’ defense struggling to hold the Terriers back, Donahoe saw the back of the net twice more, earning her fourth hat trick of the season.
Just under halfway through the first, the score was 6-0 BU.
The Lafayette finally broke BU’s streak after senior midfielder Kristin Schaen waded through traffic to fire one into the top left corner with 15:46 remaining in the half.
The goal was quickly followed by fellow Leopard junior attack and midfielder Emma Novick, who would go on to score a hat trick later in the game.
However, the Leopards’ burst of energy was short-lived, and the Terriers began controlling the ball once more.
A shot by senior defender Maria Guerra met the back of the goal, when she fired overhead and bounced one past Lacy to make the score 7-2. The goal was the senior’s first of the 2018 season.
BU continued to dominate the ball on offense for the remainder of the frame, scoring four more goals to make the game 11-2 at half time.
“We haven’t been in that situation a lot this year, so we had to get comfortable leading,” Robertshaw said. “The challenge at half time was to play like it was 0-0, and that’s not easy when you’re leading by nine or 10 goals. It’s hard to get into an athlete or a coach’s head that every ball matters the same at that moment.”
Come the second half, the Terriers continued to add to their commendable lead, with midfielders junior Kaitlin Belval and sophomore Lexi Lewis both adding points to the board.
Following this, the momentum shifted back to the Leopards, with junior attack Jane Kirby firing a shot through traffic to sink one in on the man-up opportunity. Kirby would follow it up with two more scores to earn the hat trick.
BU, meanwhile, continued to fire at Lacy with numerous shots, none of which saw the back of the net.
While the Terriers continued to struggle getting shots past Lacy — who finished the day with 14 saves — Novick and sophomore midfielder Bella Alampi added points to the Leopard board, making the score 13-7, after Lafayette’s five-goal run with 12:29 still remaining.
Donahoe was able to break Lafayette’s streak with a wraparound goal at 11:28. This gave Donahoe her sixth goal of the game, and also made her the first Terrier to reach 20 goals on the season.
With seven minutes left in regulation, the Terriers managed two more goals coming from freshman defender Nicole Foringer and freshman attack Makenzie Irvine.
Lafayette remained competitive, continuing to pepper senior goalkeeper Christine Laible — who finished with a total of 12 saves — with shots.
With only 23 seconds left in the game, Novick was able to squeak one last goal past Laible, but it was too little too late for the Leopards.
At the end of regulation, the Terriers were victorious with a 16-8 finish.
In spite of some bouts of offensive play from the Leopards, the Terriers dominated on the offensive side of the ball with 39 shots to the Leopards’ 29.
There is little time for BU to celebrate, as it will have to return to the road this Wednesday to faceoff against Colgate University.
“Yesterday was a good confidence boost for the team as we have a really tough week coming up,” Robertshaw said. “Colgate is an aggressive team, and I think it’s gonna be a battle.”
