The Boston University women’s lacrosse team (0-1) fell to the University of Vermont (2-0) 16-10 in the Terriers’ season opener Wednesday afternoon at Nickerson Field.
Nerves were high for the Terriers as the stands filled with fans on the cool winter evening.
“Your first game, you’re going to learn a lot,” BU head coach Lauren Morton said. “Especially when we have a little bit of a younger group, I think that those first game jitters can get you.”
The Terriers came out on fire, as freshman attacker Matty Spaeth launched a shot from far out to put BU on the board in just the first minute of the game, sending parents and fans to their feet.
Not long after, though, the Terriers began to receive a series of yellow cards. Sophomore defender Ellen Monahan was whistled for a penalty in just the second minute of the game, and junior midfielder Jennifer Barry received a yellow card nearly five minutes later.
This set a trend for the Terriers — BU received a total of five yellow cards on the night and was called for over 20 fouls throughout the game.
Vermont capitalized on the BU penalties — the Catamounts scored twice in just eight seconds during Barry’s yellow card to take a 3-1 lead.
BU began to regain momentum near the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter, netting four unanswered goals to take a 5-3 advantage.
But Vermont stormed back in the latter part of the second quarter. BU conceded six turnovers in the quarter, and the Catamounts strung together five consecutive goals to open up a three-goal lead of their own at halftime — before tacking on another to take an 11-7 lead a minute into the third quarter.
Despite the Terriers’ best efforts to apply defensive pressure and cut into Vermont’s lead in the second half, the Catamounts held off BU.
The Terriers were unable to record a shot-on-goal in the fourth quarter, and Vermont tacked on two tallies of their own in the final stanza to secure the 16-10 victory.
Despite Barry’s outstanding efforts on the draw circle, the Terriers looked flustered and gave up 23 turnovers.
“I think we didn’t necessarily control the tempo incredibly well, and really work our offense, so I think that that’s going to be a big piece for us is just limiting those self-turnovers,” Morton said.
Vermont’s senior midfielder Grace Giancola and freshman attacker Maddie Erskine took advantage of BU turnovers with explosive speed, dominating the field with five goals combined.
BU will look to bounce back from the loss when the team travels down Comm. Ave to take on top-ranked Boston College on Saturday in a non-conference matchup.
