Coming off a two-win weekend at home, the Boston University field hockey team (3-1) will head back out onto the road to take on the University of Maine (0-3) on Friday and Columbia University (1-1) on Saturday.
“Both play very attacking hockey at a good pace,” said head coach Sally Starr of Maine and Columbia. She also noted her team “actually prefers back to back games, especially when we are on the road.”
The No. 23 Terriers won two important games this past weekend at New Balance Field. On Friday, BU defeated the University of New Hampshire 2-1 and on Sunday they took down Northeastern University 5-4.
BU junior Ailsa Connolly was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for her six points which included two goals and two assists.
Terrier freshman Caroline Kelly was named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week for the first time in her career. She racked up 27 saves in three games, including 12 saves against Ohio State University, which was the most by a BU goalie in 11 years.
The team will be back on the road for the second spurt this year beginning on Friday in a matchup against No. 24 Maine . The Black Bears have been competitive in their last two contests which were both one-goal losses. They fell to Providence 5-4 in overtime and came up short against Kent State 2-1.
Junior Brooke Sulinski and senior Brianna Ricker have paced Maine thus far with two goals each. The Black Bears have struggled to produce on offense with just five goals in three games, one of which was a 3-0 shutout to Rutgers.
BU will be back on the field on Saturday against Columbia in the second game of the back-to-back. The Lions opened their season with a 5-3 win against Central Michigan before falling 3-1 to No. 8 Iowa.
Senior Jennifer Trieschman has come out of the gates hot with three goals in two games on just five shots on goal. Lions goalkeeper junior Alexa Conomikes played well and made 14 saves in the 3-1 loss to a top-10 team in the country to Iowa.
Starr sees these two upcoming opponents as ones with “solid players across the board with good depth.”
BU junior Ailsa Connolly has lived up to pre-season expectations so far, with five goals and two assists in four games. Connolly also scored the game’s winning goal with 1:04 remaining against Northeastern on Sunday to cap off the Terriers’ three goal comeback in the second half.
