Boston University’s field hockey team fell to the Harvard Crimson by a final score of 7-0.
The Terriers (7-7, 2-2 Patriot League) did not have an answer for 11th-ranked Harvard’s (11-3) relentless offensive attack.
Head coach Sally Starr knew the task the Terriers had ahead of them before the game even began.
“Harvard’s obviously an outstanding team,” Starr said. “I knew it would be a really difficult game for us tonight. I’m not surprised, quite honestly.”
Harvard started off strong, collecting three penalty corners in the first five minutes. On the third penalty corner, Crimson senior midfielder Avery Donahue sent the ball past Terrier senior goalkeeper Kate Thomason for her second goal of the season.
Less than a minute later, the Crimson put their second goal on the board off a corner from sophomore forward Kate Oliver in the sixth minute, when sophomore midfielder Kitty Chapple got her third goal of the year past Thomason.
“We were maybe playing a little bit too much man-to-man, player-to-player and again, just allowing them to manipulate us,” Starr said.
The Terriers put no shots on goal and collected no corners the entire game. This is the first time they have failed to record a single shot in a game all season.
“Obviously not getting any shots, not getting any corners, that’s a huge disappointment. I don’t care who we’re playing,” Starr said. “We need to be better there.”
The second quarter was even worse for the Terriers as they surrendered four goals in the span of four minutes. Through Terrier turnovers and strong open field offense, the Crimson never ceased their pressure on the struggling Terrier defense.
The Crimson unleashed a barrage of offense in a three-minute span, and BU had no answer. Crimson freshman forward Sage Piekarski found the back of the net twice in 39 seconds in the 20th minute. Freshman midfielder Lara Beekhuis followed with a goal of her own in the 21st minute. Donahue drove home her second of the game off a beautiful corner in the next minute.
Down 6-0 at the half, there were not many positives for the Terriers to take into the huddle. Despite the defensive meltdown and lack of any offensive spark, coach Starr wanted to see her players close out the game strong.
“Just 0-0, a reset.” Starr said. “It’s an opportunity for us to improve and an opportunity for us to get better.”
In the 34th minute, the Crimson struck one more time in the game when junior midfielder Maddie Mullaney shot one home off a perfect pass from Donahue.
Harvard’s transition game gave the team so much of their success. The Crimson were fast across midfield, connecting passes through holes in the Terrier defense which set their attackers up for prime shots.
“We gave them too much space. We weren’t compacting the field,” Starr said. “In the second half, we did a better job of playing off each other’s shoulders, taking some passing lanes away and taking those long passes away from them.”
For the remainder of the second half, the Terriers were stifling on defense, turning away multiple Crimson attempts on goal.
“We defended much better in the second half as we compacted space much better,” Starr said. “It’s something we’ve been talking about a lot, and it’s critical against any team but particularly against a team like Harvard, where [if] we give them any space, they’re going to find it.”
The Terriers are clinging on to the last PL playoff spot with a date at a much-less intimidating Colgate University (3-10, 0-4 PL) on Oct. 20 at 4 p.m.
Coach Starr emphasized that she felt like she saw enough good things from her team to take care of business on Friday and secure a spot in playoffs.
“I saw things tonight that we really wanted to improve upon from the previous weekend against Lafayette,” Starr said. “I saw some really good improvements, and I think that we’re ready for Colgate.”
