The Boston University lacrosse team began the America East portion of its schedule with a bang when it defeated the University at Albany, 16-9, at Nickerson Field on Saturday.
The Great Danes (4-6, 1-1 America East) were riding a three-game winning streak – including a 16-15 overtime win over the No. 20 University of New Hampshire – before running into the No. 12 Terriers (6-3, 1-0 AE) who ran their winning streak to four games.
Senior All American Sarah Dalton added to her team-best goal total by scoring six times, giving her 41 on the season. Junior attack McKinley Curro torched the Albany defense for four goals – all coming in a 20-minute span in the first half.
‘We’ve all been playing together for two or three years now,’ Dalton said. ‘The past two years, we were always kind of a young team, but now we’re more of an experienced, veteran team. We know what each other likes to do, the cuts we like to make and the shots we like to take.’
Freshman attack Hannah Frey beat Albany senior goalie Katie Neer on a free position with 19:33 remaining in the first half. Frey has tallied a goal in all nine games of her young collegiate career.
‘It’s showing that she’s ready to play at this level, which I think is great,’ BU coach Liz Robertshaw said. ‘We can count on her for at least a goal a game, and that’s something that’s awesome for us.’
BU’s veteran players made sure their team didn’t look ahead to their matchup next week against UNH and took care of the Great Danes.
‘That’s something the captains are doing a very good job of – making sure we focus on the task at hand,’ Robertshaw said. ‘That’s a big credit to this team. We have a chance to play on Nickerson Field, and we take full advantage of that, we don’t look ahead to the next game.’
BU allowed 11.3 goals per game coming into the matchup with the Great Danes and emphasized tightening their defense last week in practice.
‘We got a lot more experience in playing situations for all of the teams,’ Robertshaw said. ‘There were a lot of girls who made it into this contest that did a great job. And that’s because we worked on the defensive system – not necessarily individuals, but everyone working together and learning how to play together.’
The Terriers hit the ground running, accruing a four-goal lead in the first six minutes of the game. Curro started the flurry when she made a nice juke move in the slot and ripped a shot past Neer.
BU found open shooters in the low slot all day long and they repeatedly capitalized on their opportunities. Dalton took a pass in the slot from junior attack Xan Wetzel – who leads the team with 22 assists – and fired a quick-release blast to give the Terriers a 3-0 lead at 24:14.
The Terriers capitalized on six free-position opportunities, three of which came in the first half, to give the Terriers control of the game.
‘We work on that,’ Robertshaw said. ‘I think the girls have a lot of confidence with it. It’s also something that it’s a great opportunity to get some goals, and we do it well. I’m happy about it.’
The Terriers opened up a nine-goal lead – their largest of the game – when junior Traci Landy took advantage of another free position shot, giving BU a 15-6 edge with 15:02 left in the second half.
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