As tradition dictates, the Boston University field hockey team honored its senior class before its final home game Friday against Providence College. This year, like any other, BU’s leaders ‘-‘- Sheena Berry, Nikki Lloyd, Haley Robinson and Gabby Hajjar ‘-‘- received accolades and flowers. Family and friends came from Scotland, England, Texas and Ohio, respectively, for the pre-game ceremony.
On this chilly October afternoon, however, the celebration was muted from that moment forward. Not only because the Terriers fell to the Friars, 2-0, but due to ineligibility and injury ‘-‘- half of the Class of 2010 stood on the sidelines on their special day, merely spectators to the Terriers’ defeat.
‘It was a weird Senior Day, with only two of them on the field,’ BU coach Sally Starr said. ‘The team clearly wanted to win this game as a present for the seniors. After the game, Robbie said, ‘I’m proud and had fun today. . . . I’ll have really good memory of the game we played today.”
Berry will have a different memory of the day and of the season. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Berry joined the team last season and made an immediate impact, recording a team-high three game-winning goals and finishing second in points (13), goals (5) and assists (3). Her loss of NCAA eligibility just before the season devastated BU’s attacking unit, but Berry has continued to stay positive and involved.
‘We thought we had her,’ Starr said. ‘She played her butt off this summer and preseason without knowing if she’d play. She was ready. That takes a special kind of person. She plays on the scout team in practice and helps the freshmen with their tactical skills.’
Another recent addition from across the pond is Lloyd. The co-captain has been an offensive lightning rod since the instant she transferred from Virginia Commonwealth University last season, scoring 45 seconds into her first game and pacing the team in points (16) and goals (7). She had five shots ‘-‘- three on goal ‘-‘- on Senior Day and tallied an assist on Sunday against the University of Maine, tying her for third on the teams in points scored this year.
‘She’s been on the team for only two years, but she’s an extremely skilled player,’ Starr said. ‘She brings excitement and a great attack.’
Robinson, the other co-captain, contributes more than statistics to the Terriers. Robinson redshirted her freshman year and made 17 appearances the following year. Since then, she has started 63 consecutive games, providing consistency and leadership in every single game in the last three seasons.
‘She’s started many, many, many games for us,’ Starr said. ‘She’s a great competitor. As a captain, when your team wants to play for you, you’re doing something right.’
Also redshirting her freshman year, Hajjar has followed a different career path. She came into this season as BU’s points leader and tallied a goal and assist on last year’s Senior Day. But an ACL injury prevented from her from solidifying a legacy as a premier scorer at BU and in the region among the likes of Providence senior Nellie Poulin, who has 49 goals and 110 points in her storied career, including an insurance tally Friday.
‘[Hajjar] gives great leadership from the sideline and the locker room,’ Starr said. ‘It’s not what she wanted to see her senior year go. She would’ve been like Poulin, one of the top strikers in New England. She was playing her best hockey before she tore her ACL this summer.’
The members of the senior class have each had unique journeys as Terriers, spending anywhere from two to five years on the team and coming from both sides of the Atlantic. Yet when reflecting on the Class of 2010, much like the numerous close losses BU has encountered this year, bad luck has not interfered with the Terriers’ optimism, teamwork and one last shot at a conference championship and beyond.
‘Four seniors would’ve brought more energy and experience on the field,’ Starr said. ‘You can throw your hands up in the air, but that hasn’t happened. We’ve had great team perseverance and mateship [sic]. Our teammates support each other, trying to be their best for themselves and for the team.’
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