Boston University men’s lacrosse fell to Navy, 16-9, in a rainy Patriot League season opener on Saturday at Nickerson Field.
Navy (3-2, 1-0 PL) set the tone early, winning the opening faceoff and finding the back of the net in the first 50 seconds to take a 1-0 lead.
The Terriers (3-2, 0-1 PL) kept fighting, with graduate student attack Vince D’Alto finding junior attack Brenden Kelly for consecutive goals which gave BU their first lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter things remained close. BU kept the game close even while committing four penalties in the quarter alone. The Terriers went into the half trailing by just one, 7-6.
However, in the second half momentum began to shift away from BU’s favor.
Navy opened the half with another quick goal, this time taking less than 20 seconds. The score gave the Midshipmen a two-goal lead the Terriers were never able to erase.
BU struggled offensively in the third quarter, failing to find the net and lacking the spark that propelled Navy to a 10-6 lead to end the third.
Navy put two quick goals in to start the fourth, marking an five-unanswered goal run and taking a commanding 12-6 lead.
It was certainly a game to forget for BU, as the offense struggled to keep up with Navy.
“It was a pretty frustrating game,” BU head coach Ryan Polley said. “We made too many mistakes early in the game [and] allowed them to get really comfortable in that first quarter. They had been struggling to score goals and we made multiple mistakes that allowed them to gain some confidence.”
Polley expressed his disappointment with the team’s second half.
“I thought we were going to be ready to play coming out of halftime and to give up a goal five seconds in, that was obviously a big play,” Polley said.
Throughout the game, the Terriers failed to gain any sort of momentum, winning just nine of 29 faceoffs. They were also unsuccessful on all five of their man-up opportunities, compared to Navy’s two goals on four extra man opportunities.
“Starting at the faceoff, we got our butts kicked there, which led to a lopsided possession disadvantage,” Polley said. “That wasn’t the reason we lost, we certainly can overcome that with playing better defense and being more efficient on offense.”
Polley said there were no positive takeaways from the loss and that the team is focused on its bigger goals.
“We’re not here for moral victories, we’re here to compete for a Patriot League championship and that’s still within our grasp,” he said. “But, we got our butts kicked today.”
BU will look to pick up their first conference win next Saturday at 1 p.m. vs. Bucknell and Polley is looking forward to seeing what the team can do and they will respond.
As the team continues to build its identity this season, their response to this loss might forecast how they will perform the rest of the season.
