On Valentine’s Day, Boston University’s men’s lacrosse team had a date with Monmouth University at Nickerson Field.
The Terriers (2-0) emerged victorious Friday evening with a final score of 15-6, thanks to junior attacker Jimmy Kohr’s career-high six goals.
“It was a pretty complete win,” said head coach Ryan Polley. “We were focused on getting a little bit more efficiency from the offense… the defense did a great job.”
The Terriers won the faceoff to start the game, and freshman attacker Timothy Shannehan quickly found Kohr lurking by the right side of the Monmouth (0-2) goal. Kohr fired a shot past goalkeeper Tommy Heller, giving BU a 1-0 lead after just over a minute of play.
The Terriers continued their fast start when freshman attacker Mike Rooney scored his first collegiate goal just three minutes later to double the Terrier advantage.
Although the Hawks had some opportunities in the early stages, they were unable to capitalize. BU kept their foot on the gas throughout the first period, adding three more goals — including a second for Kohr — and headed into the second quarter with a comfortable 5-0 lead.
“Coming out of our last game, we definitely weren’t as pleased as we normally are with our offensive performance,” Kohr said. “That hot start was definitely important for us.”
The Terriers looked to maintain their dominance in the second, but Heller was much sharper than he was in the first. The Hawks outfielders had a chance to reward their goalie’s efforts when Terrier sophomore midfielder Jackson Matthews was called for a trip, giving Monmouth a man advantage. Attacker Connor Gorman found a lane on the left side and cashed in on the power play, cutting the lead to four.
Monmouth would score again in the period, but for the most part, it was the Kohr show.
He found the back of the net three more times before halftime, and senior attacker Jimmy O’Connell bagged two of his own to complete a hat trick. The Terriers went into the locker room with a commanding eight-goal lead.
“O’Connell just did all the little things tonight,” Polley said. “He rode really well, he got a couple key ground balls, he was great in the two man game. He got others involved.”
The third period saw BU’s offense dry up, with the Terriers only scoring twice. Freshman midfielder Andrew Pape joined Rooney by scoring his first collegiate goal and Shannehan scored a second goal to put him at six points on the evening.
BU led by nine heading into the fourth, and Monmouth was running out of time to make something happen.
The Hawks managed to double their score by finding the back of the net three times before the final buzzer, but their leaky defense allowed the Terriers to score three of their own. Those included a sixth goal from Kohr and a second for Rooney, capping off career days for the pair.
“Definitely would have liked to put a few more back in the net,” Kohr said. “Overall, it was a good team win and we can still build off this.”
The Terriers will continue their opening homestand when they host Brown University on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
