The Boston University women’s lacrosse team will look to end its two-game losing streak against Harvard University Wednesday night in a non-conference tilt at Nickerson Field.
Despite a strong second half showing during which the Terriers (3-6, 1-3 Patriot League) outscored their opponent 8-6, the team went down 18-11 to No. 7 Loyola University Maryland over the weekend.
BU head coach Liz Robertshaw emphasized how important it will be to control possession against the Crimson (3-6).
“We need to possess the ball like we did against Loyola on the draw controls,” Robertshaw said. “We need to battle Harvard on the draw controls and have [the ball] in our attacking end more often than our defensive end. For us, the more time we have on our end, the more shots we can generate and more opportunities we can have.”
The Terriers will be up against a Harvard team that hasn’t registered a win since March 10. The Crimson have lost their last four contests and have conceded a staggering 74 goals in that time.
Yet for all of its defensive failings, Harvard’s offense remains potent and is currently ranked 15th in the country, with 15.22 goals per game.
In the Crimson’s most recent 18-14 loss to No. 18 Dartmouth College Saturday afternoon, junior midfielder Keeley MacAfee was particularly impressive, registering four goals and three assists.
Senior midfielder Julia Glynn and MacAfee power Harvard’s offense, and are both tied for fourth in the NCAA with 4.11 goals per game.
Between the pair, they share 74 goals and 31 assists this season.
Glynn also ranks third in the nation in points per game (5.89) and MacAfee ranks sixth (5.78).
Earlier this season, MacAfee posted six goals in back-to-back games against the University of California, Davis and Yale University, becoming the first player to do so under Crimson head coach Lisa Miller.
Senior goalkeeper Olivia Gundrum has started all nine games in net for Harvard. She posts a 15.93 goals against average and a .402 goal save percentage.
BU’s senior goalkeeper Christine Laible kept up her impressive form against Loyola (8-2, 4-0 Patriot League), matching a career-best 13 saves.
This was her sixth double-digit save effort of the 2018 season.
“Christine has been working extremely hard,” Robertshaw said. “She’s watching film, she’s tracking her opponents and she is committed to getting better and better, and I think you’re going to see some great play from her.”
The Terriers will be hoping for another strong showing from sophomore attack Kailey Conry, who recently notched 100 career points in BU’s 12-8 loss to Colgate University on March 28.
Conry ranks second in the Patriot League and 19th nationally with 2.11 assists per game. She has provided assists in all nine games so far and found the back of the net in all but one.
Senior attack Avery Donahoe leads the team with 21 goals, which includes four hat tricks.
On defense, senior defender Maria Guerra has been particularly impressive. She leads the team in ground balls (26) and caused turnovers (14).
Guerra ranks third in the league with 2.89 ground balls per game and has collected 11 over the last three games.
To stop the Harvard frontline, her contribution will likely remain a large factor.
The last time these two teams matched up, it was Harvard who came out on top with an 11-6 victory back in 2014.
Harvard leads BU 10-12 in the all-time series, but the Terriers have taken seven of the last eight matchups on Nickerson Field.
“From a moral standpoint, we’re in a pretty good place,” Robertshaw said. “No one likes losing two games in a row, but we have identified things we need to improve on and play a unified game between the attack, midfield and defenders. We are focusing on us as a team [rather] than on the scoreboard.”
