Boston University’s men’s lacrosse faced off against Yale University in a back-and-forth game, but the Terriers eventually fell 18-16.
The Terriers (7-4, 4-1 PL) took a defensive hit quickly in the first period, allowing three goals within the first two minutes. Graduate student attacker Vince D’Alto finally put the Terriers on the board on a goal assisted by senior attacker and midfielder James Corcoran.
Although the Terriers had an impressive 64 shots on net, it was the Bulldogs’ (8-2, 3-1 PL) duo of junior forward Johnny Keib and sophomore attacker David Anderson who combined for nine goals, with Yale only having 35 shots on net.
The Terriers kept the game close with graduate student attacker Thomas Niedringhaus tying the game for the first time at three apiece. The Terriers went into the second period down 6-4 after a goal by BU junior attack Zach Travaglini cut the lead to two.
In the second period, Yale scored twice in the first two minutes, but the Terriers responded with four consecutive goals. D’Alto scored to tie the game 8-8 midway through the period. His later goal in the fourth period set himself as the program’s all-time leading scorer.
“Vince has been a great player for us and congratulations to Vince,” BU head coach Ryan Polley said. “He’s been a great player and I’m proud of Vince and happy for him.”
Yale responded to BU’s scoring run with one of their own, closing out the first half with four goals and extending their lead to 12-8.
“Offensively, I thought we shared the ball very well,” Polley said. “We obviously generated tons of shots. At the end of the day, I just think Yale made a couple more plays than us so we were a little frustrated but happy with certainly our compete level and the way that the guys played.”
In the third period, the Terriers responded once again, scoring three goals in three minutes, one for senior attacker Tommy Bourqu, one for junior attacker Brendan Kelly and Corcoran.
BU was down just one, but the game went scoreless for six minutes until Keib broke the silence for Yale, making the score 13-11.
For a duration of the fourth period, BU trailed Yale for only one or two points at a time.
With two minutes left, graduate student attacker Louis Prefetto found the back of the net, cutting the Yale lead to just one.
Yale junior faceoff Machado Rodriguez won the last two faceoffs against the Terriers, lowering the chances of a scoring opportunity for the Terriers.
The Bulldogs junior goalie Jared Paquette challenged the Terriers offense, making 15 saves in comparison to junior goalie Will Barnes only making six saves.
“I thought the guys stepped up and made some plays,” Polley said. “I thought we had some pretty good ball movement and got some great scoring opportunities. It was more or less just keep the ball moving and rely on our playmakers.”
The Terriers will return to Nickerson Field to play Lafayette on Saturday, April 13 where they will celebrate their seniors in their final regular season home game.
