The Boston University field hockey team (4-8, 1-2 Patriot League) will host two games over the weekend on their home turf at New Balance Field. Saturday’s matchup is against the American University Eagles (8-4, 3-0 PL) at 12 p.m. The Terriers will be back in action on Sunday at 1 p.m. when the take on the Princeton University Tigers (8-4, 3-0 Ivy League).
This weekend will be another test for BU as they try to break out of the struggle they have been in all season. Head coach Sally Starr said that she is looking for her team to play “smart, aggressive Terrier hockey.”
The Eagles will enter Saturday’s game ranked 27th in the nation according to the NCAA RPI and are currently riding a five game win streak. They are led by junior Noor Coenen who had nine goals and six assists on the season. Her .75 goals a game is good for a share of 19th place in the nation.
Starr said that the American game is not a must win for her club but would help their seeding for the Patriot League Tournament.
The Eagle with the most goals behind Coenen is sophomore Hannha Moser with four. That duo has combined for 13 of the team’s 31 goals this season.
A big reason for the Eagles success this season has been their defense and goal keeping. They have allowed three or more goals in just two games this season. They’ve outscored their opponents 31-18 in 2019.
Freshman goalie Fiona Minter has played solid all year for American. Her 1.50 goals against average is 22nd in the country. She’s also not given up more than two goals in a game since Sept. 6.
BU’s opponent on Sunday will be an even tougher one when the 8th ranked Tigers stroll into Boston. Princeton is also on a five game winning streak along with American.
Princeton has been a consistent squad from day one this season. They opened their season against the number one team in the country, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels (12-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) and lost only by a score of 4-3 on the road.
Fast forward to Oct. 6 and the Tigers took down 2nd ranked Duke University Blue Devils (10-3, 1-2 ACC) on the road in overtime by a score of 5-4 in overtime. The Blue Devils have since fallen to fourth in the nation.
The Tigers are led by a three headed monster of junior Clara Roth, sophomore Hannah Davey, freshman Sammy Popper and sophomore Ali McCarthy. Those four have combined for 29 of Princeton’s 38 goals this season. All four are in the top 40 for goals per game in the NCAA.
The competition Princeton has gone up against has been incredibly difficult and it explains their four losses. All four losses came to top 25 teams in the country and three were against top 4 teams at the time of the game.
The Terriers finally broke their six game losing streak this past Friday but lost again on Sunday to rival Boston College (8-5, 2-1 ACC) 5-0.
“We can continue to take confidence that we can go toe to toe with a very good team,” Starr said.
