In its first home game since Feb. 17, the Boston University’s women’s lacrosse team lost 17-7 to Army West Point on Wednesday evening, headlined by a ten-answered-goal run from the Black Knights.
“We showed up. I think we needed to finish some of our shots and just take care of the ball better,” head coach Lauren Morton said.
The Terriers (4-5, 0-3 Patriot League) have lost their last five games, despite winning their first four. During that five-game losing stretch, BU played a string of nationally ranked opponents — No. 3 Boston College, No. 25 Brown University and No. 18 Navy — all while traveling for the month of March.
On BU’s first shot on its first possession of the game, Terrier sophomore midfielder Elle Stevenson’s shot got past sophomore goalkeeper Lindsey Serafine.
With that, BU took the initial lead but could not maintain that momentum once Army (4-6, 2-1 PL) picked up the pace offensively and got more shots off on freshman goalkeeper Natalie Aiosa. The Terriers and the Black Knights traded a pair each before the Black Knights tacked on three more to end the first quarter ahead 5-2.
“We had some of the looks we wanted and we were making stops. I think we needed to finish and limit their opportunities,” Morton said.
Army team leaders in goals and assists — defending Patriot League Rookie of the Year sophomore midfield Brigid Duffy and sophomore attack Allison Reilly — scored a hat trick each to pad the Army lead. Duffy ultimately had five goals and three assists, and Reilly finished with four goals and five assists.
The Black Knights were ranked second in the PL preseason poll, after competing in their first NCAA Tournament appearance last season.
Even though the Black Knights scored five goals in the last five minutes of the first half, the Terriers, and goalkeeper Aiosa in particular, kept the game relatively close, going into the half down 11-3.
On BU’s end, freshman midfielder Tessa Geddes scored four goals — her career high — alongside Stevenson’s pair of goals. Freshman midfielder Reilly Walsh tacked on BU’s sole assist on Stevenson’s second goal.
“Our freshmen and sophomores have really stepped up,” Morton said. “It’s great having [Stevenson] back, and Tessa Reilly certainly has been a force all over the field. They’re continuing to just get game experience. We have to put them in the best positions to be able to be successful.”
The Terriers made a final stand and outscored Army 3-1 in the final frame, but their efforts were too little too late.
“Ultimately for us, we kept fighting, which I was happy with. We were able to stick our shots a little bit more than we had early in the game,” Morton said about the fourth quarter efforts.
The Terriers’ Achilles’ heel was their penalty trouble, totaling four to Army’s two. Army capitalized on senior midfielder Olivia Kingsborough’s red card, as they scored three goals during the five-minute woman-up advantage.
“We kind of put ourselves in a tough situation with a bunch of the penalties, which was really tough to dig out of,” Morton said. “They got a lot of man-up opportunities and a lot of man-up goals, which was tough for us to rebound from.”
BU will face PL foe Lafayette College on Saturday, who has also dropped their first three conference games. The two will face off at Nickerson Field on Saturday at 12 p.m., when one team will win their first in-conference matchup of the season.
