By Chloe Patel and Brendan Nordstrom
Boston University sports teams compete at the Division 1 level in the Patriot League, except the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams — who compete in the Hockey East. The women’s soccer and softball teams won the Patriot League regular-season championship. Several Terrier teams competed at the highest level — the NCAA tournament — including track and field, women’s golf, men’s lacrosse and the women’s rowing teams.
Field Hockey
The field hockey team went 4-14 in the 2021 campaign and failed to make the Patriot League tournament. Two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week freshman forward Payton Anderson led the team with 24 points and on the back end, the team was supported by junior goalkeeper Caroline Kelly.
Led by head coach Sally Starr, who has been at the helm of the program since 1981, the Terriers had a turbulent season that included a ten-game losing streak but ended the season on a high with a 6-1 win over PL rival Holy Cross. With most of the roster returning, the Terriers hope to build on the foundation they created during the shortened six-game 2020 season and the full 2021 season.
Women’s soccer
The women’s soccer team earned the program’s fourth-ever Patriot League regular-season title with an 11-6-3 record. Off to a slow 4-5-1 start, the Terriers found their groove with a five-game win streak, two ties, and their tenth win to finish the regular season.
Senior forward Jenna Oldham was significant on offense with four goals and seven assists. Working a two-goalie system, junior keeper Gretchen Bennett and freshman counterpart Celia Braun were stellar between the posts with 36 saves each.
The team ultimately fell in the Patriot League final against Bucknell by 1-0, narrowly missing the cut for the NCAA tournament.
Coach Nancy Feldman, who had coached the Terriers since the program’s conception 27 years ago, retired in the offseason, and Casey Brown was recently named the new head coach of the program. With the combination of a new coach and the chip on their shoulder from the heartbreaking loss in the championship, the women’s soccer team will have something to prove in 2022.
Men’s soccer
With the coaching staff in their first non-COVID season and a team with underclassmen talent, the men’s soccer team struggled to get their season going last year. They did not record their first win until six games into the year. After the first win, the team went on a tough four-game losing stretch before a tie with American University ignited the group.
They defeated Colgate University and Northeastern University to string together a pair of wins. They ended the season with a win to leave a high note on the season and to finish 4-9-3.
Junior midfielder Quinn Matulis was a spark on offense scoring five goals and notching an assist. Junior goalkeeper Francesco Montali was clutch between the posts.
More experience in both the coaching and the players and the shift that the team took at the end of 2021 should make for an exciting Fall campaign.
Men’s ice hockey
The men’s ice hockey team had a turbulent season, ending with a 19-13-3 record.
The team went on a 4-9-2 run in their first 16 games, with the final loss in that stretch coming from the eighth bi-annual Red Hot Hockey game, played in Madison Square Garden against Cornell University.
The tides turned for the Terriers in December. They went 13-1-1 with numerous high-scoring games through the Beanpot Final game, when the team brought home BU’s 31st Beanpot Championship with an exciting late goal.
After the Beanpot final, BU went 2-2 to end the regular season, which included an 8-1 loss to the University of Maine — the lowest-ranked team in the league. They entered the Hockey East tournament as the No. 5 seed and suffered a disappointing 3-1 loss in the quarterfinals.
In May, the Terriers hired Jay Pandolfo as head coach. Pandolfo played for the Terriers and should bring a much-needed spark to the bench of the Terriers in the upcoming season.
Women’s ice hockey
The women’s ice hockey team got off to a hot start beginning their season on a 5-2-3 streak. However, the team struggled to win the rest of the season and finished with a 12-15-6 record. They faced off against University of Connecticut in the Hockey East Quarterfinals and ultimately dropped the contest 3-1.
In the offseason, the team graduated eight seniors, including goal-leader senior forward Courtney Correia. The team’s assist leader, junior forward Julia Nearis, will be returning, as will freshman goalkeeper Callie Shanahan, who recorded a .928 save percentage.
The women’s hockey team has all the right pieces and, with experienced coaching staff, expect them to put it together this season.
Men’s basketball
Two years after BU men’s basketball had its March Madness trip canceled due to COVID-19, the team showed promise in the 2021-2022 season. The Terriers were off to a hot start starting the season with a 9-4 record in out-of-league play.
They then entered Patriot League play and slowed down with a 2-4 record before catching wind and winning seven of their last ten games. Heading into the Patriot League tournament as the three seed, the Terriers rolled through the first round. In the next round, BU was down five in the semifinals with 13 seconds left and forced overtime, but could not complete the comeback and ultimately lost 85-80.
Graduate student forward Sukhmail Mathon and graduate student guard Javonte McCoy highlighted the Terriers’ 2021-2022 cast as Mathon averaged a double-double all season and McCoy averaged 17.4 points per game and totaled 102 assists.
Mathon and McCoy graduated, but sophomore guard Caelen Jones, sophomore guard and forward Anthony Morales, junior guard Ethan Brittain-Watts and senior guard and forward Walter Whyte are all due for breakout seasons.
Women’s basketball
The women’s basketball team had their fourth winning season in a row that ultimately ended in the Patriot League semifinal loss 70-48 against American University.
The Terriers are led by first-year head coach Melissa Graves who led the team to a 17-14 record overall and a 12-6 record in Patriot League competition.
Junior guard Sydney Johnson led the team in scoring with 440 points and standout freshman guard Alex Giannaros averaged 10 points per game.
Next season, the team will look to build on their solid underclassmen and use their veterans to continue their success in the league and possibly win a championship.
Men’s lacrosse
The highest nationally-ranked team for the Terriers is the men’s lacrosse team, who had a historic season-ending as the No. 12 team in the country. The Terriers finished 12-5.
A relatively new program, the men’s lacrosse team had its inaugural season in 2014 and for the first time in its young history, the Terriers became Patriot League Champions this season.
The team was the No. 1 seed entering the Patriot League tournament and nearly had their season ended by Lehigh, sending the semifinal match into overtime, but sophomore midfielder Tommy Bourque netted the game-winner to keep the Terriers alive.
In a tense rematch between BU and Army, BU claimed their first Patriot League title. In their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, the Terriers fell to Princeton University, but now that the seal has been broken, expect BU to be a force in years to come.
Women’s lacrosse
The women’s lacrosse team lost their first 11 games but finally won a game in mid-April in a 17-15 high-scoring thriller. The team would win just one other game in their season in overtime.
The Terriers played high-ranked teams like No. 1 ranked Boston College, No. 7 University of Loyola Maryland and No. 24 Navy and had numerous close-scored matchups.
While the Terriers struggled to win, junior midfielder and attack Jennifer Barry dominated in draw controls and became the program’s all-time leader in draw controls this season.
Hopefully, the Terriers can keep control of the ball more, put together a better record, and get a shot at the PL tournament next season.
Softball
Softball is one of the most dominant programs at Boston University, especially in recent seasons. This season proved no different as the Terriers won the regular season PL championship and had a legendary 27-game win streak. The team finished 40-17 overall.
The legendary season would earn head coach Ashley Waters her third Patriot League Coach of the Year award. There is a lot of young talent on the team, including sophomore shortstop Kayla Roncin, junior infielder Caitlin Coker and junior pitchers Lizzy Avery and Allison Boaz.
BU dominated the first two days in the Patriot League tournament, beating Colgate University and Lehigh University. However, since it was a double-elimination tournament, Lehigh returned to the championship to beat BU in back-to-back games, spoiling the historic season. With one of the best coaches in softball, talent that will sustain next year and the motivation of the first championship loss in three years, softball will be nothing short of exciting in the Spring.
