This season, women’s lacrosse is looking to bounce back.
After going 5-11 last year and just 1-8 in conference play, they took a step back from improvement seen in 2023, a year in which they saw their best record since head coach Lauren Morton’s first season in 2019.
“Last year was certainly unexpected,” Morton said. “We had some key injuries which definitely impacted us…It’s been a really good step in the right direction this preseason period. You can see some of the players with more confidence from that experience they gained last year.”
Seven freshmen join the Terriers for 2025 after graduating eight seniors in 2024.
“Within our freshman class, [defender] Alex[andra] Burns and [midfielder] Kaitlyn Barton have done a really good job.”
BU also has key returners who have embraced their leadership roles.
“I feel like this is a really close-knit group, and I think we have a lot of potential, a lot of energy headed into the season, so I’m just excited to see what we can do and how far we can make it this year,” senior midfielder Avery Jones said.
Jones and the team are hungry to make it all the way to the postseason, especially as she and five of her teammates face their final season in scarlet and white.
“[Missing the] playoffs put it into perspective, especially for us upperclassmen, how important it is to start off strong and to win these games in the beginning, to put ourselves in a better position towards the end of the season,” Jones explained
The Terriers will continue to be driven in attack by senior Hannah Tillier, who led the squad with 36 points off of 25 goals and 11 assists. Even with 2024 being her best season on record, she’s setting her sights on more well-rounded goal contributions.
“A big part of my game is being even with both goals and assists,” Tiller said. “I think I’ve improved on my skills, but I really want to focus on having a good balance of being able to score but also being able to feed my teammates.”
Tillier and Jones are joined by graduate student midfielder Kendall Sims and junior midfielder Abby Cotraro in captaincy. The group has a depth of experience against conference foes, which will be crucial as the team looks to turn a corner and climb the table.
In the Patriot League Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll, the Terriers landed just above bottom-ranked Lafayette, even after finishing below the Leopards last year.
The rest of 2025’s preseason rankings parallel the 2024 regular season standings, with Loyola Maryland, Navy, Army West Point and Holy Cross taking the top four places, respectively.
“Loyola is going to be a big threat, Navy [has a] strong group of core returners… The conference is always really competitive,” Morton said.
“We want to be able to prepare and know who we are as we head into the conference season…So making sure we’re making progress, we’re peaking at the right times, we’re continuing to improve and develop will be really important,” she added.
The Terriers will launch their 2025 campaign at Nickerson Field on Sunday in a non-conference contest against local rival and reigning national champion Boston College.
Their first taste of the Patriot League comes at Army West Point on Mar. 8 before returning home to Nickerson on Mar. 15.
For the Terriers this year, simple improvement above a single conference win isn’t enough, they want to be playing into May.
