Since 2002, the No. 12 Boston University Terriers (6-3, 1-0) and No. 20 University of New Hampshire Wildcats (7-4, 1-1) have faced each other in every final of the America East Championship, with BU claiming six of those seven titles. Both teams look equipped to return to the finals this season, and will renew their rivalry on Wednesday when the two teams meet in Durham at 3 p.m.
BU comes into the game riding a four-game winning streak, including its first conference game, a 15-9 victory over Albany. Junior goalkeeper Rachel Klein has played well during the stretch, allowing only 8.5 goals per game.
‘We’re building a lot of confidence,’ BU coach Liz Robertshaw said. ‘We know how we want to execute each game, and that’s shown recently.’
In the game against Albany, senior All-American midfielder Sarah Dalton’s led the way with six goals and earned America East Player of the Week honors, her second time winning the award this season. Her 41 goals on the season are the most on the team.
Complementing Dalton, junior Xan Weitzel has stepped up for the team this year and leads the conference with 2.5 assists per game. Junior attackers McKinley Curro and Traci Landy have also chipped in with 22 and 23 goals, respectively. The Terriers are the second-highest scoring team in America East, averaging 13.89 goals per game.
The Wildcats have a strong offense of their own, led by the league’s top scorer, senior Sarah Von Bargen, who averages 4.56 goals per game. As a team, UNH scores 14 goals per game, the highest in the conference.
‘They go hard 100 percent of the time,’ Robertshaw said. ‘They have a real feisty style of play with every attacker going strong to the cage. And it’s been a real banner year for Von Bargen. She has great numbers and plays well from start to finish.’
Aside from their prolific offense, UNH also has America East’s best defense with an 8.8 goals-against average. Sophomore Nikki Hume and freshman Kate Gunts split time in net for the Wildcats.
Despite the strong stats, UNH was upset by Albany in its first conference game and it has struggled against weaker opponents such as Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. BU soundly defeated all those opponents, but has struggled against nationally ranked opponents. All three of the Terriers’ losses came against ranked teams, and UNH will be their first game against a ranked foe since a 19-18 loss to Vanderbilt.
‘We want to take the experience from those games and use it to our advantage,’ Robertshaw said. ‘We have a long history with UNH and we learn something playing against them every year. So, when we’re out on the field, I’m not going to think about what we did against Syracuse. I’m going to be thinking about how we played UNH three times last year. This game means a lot. I think we’re going to bring a little extra.’
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