Timing is everything, and Stony Brook University picked a very bad time to visit the Boston University women’s lacrosse team.
The No. 12 Terriers (4-2) enter the contest riding their first back-to-back wins of the season, not to mention a 16-game home unbeaten streak and the fact that they are coming off a 15-5 demolition of Yale University — a team that BU had previously never beaten.
BU will get its first crack at a conference opponent Saturday, when it hosts the Seawolves (4-2) at 12 p.m. on Nickerson Field.
“I think that starting conference this weekend is a big deal, and it’s nice to do it at home,” said BU coach Liza Kelly. “I hope that we can take the momentum we have, especially what we’re doing offensively right now, and kind of gain confidence and keep rolling.”
The Terriers’ match-up against the Seawolves will be their last of a three-game home stretch before going back on the road. BU’s offense has been phenomenal in the Terriers’ past two games, scoring a combined 28 goals, while the defense has held opponents to just 11. Then again, with the way BU plays at home, one would expect nothing less.
“Comfort would be my only explanation,” said senior defender Lindsay Lewis. “We’re on [Nickerson] everyday — rain, snow, wind — we know how the ball moves, how fast we are on it, but with the way practice has gone this past week and the way the team is responding to the losses, I’m not expecting anything less from us once we go back on the road.”
Lewis has been on quite a tear lately. She’s recorded hat tricks in BU’s last two contests and has 16 goals in six games this season.
“It’s my last [season] and I’m hoping to go out with a boom,” Lewis said. “I’m putting everything I have into this season and into this team. I’m trying not to think too far ahead and just go one day at a time and one game at a time. Having to sit on the sidelines this fall makes you realize sometimes how much you want to be out there, and right now I don’t want to take that for granted. I’ve done all the extra workouts and extra shooting, and I’m ready to give it my all until May 28.”
And extra work is just what every member of the Terrier squad needs to do if they want to accomplish their ultimate goal.
That starts with practice.
“We’ve been focusing more on us these past two weeks and improving our own game and not so much on the other team,” Lewis said. “Stony Brook has a bunch of attacking threats but nothing our defense can’t handle. They play against some of the best attackers in the country and I think our main focus is coming out and playing a full 60 minutes and not letting up — going hard the whole time and making sure we keep that America East championship.”
The Terriers were a unanimous pick to finish first in the conference, and anything less would be a major disappointment.
“Our team has very high goals and we won’t be happy unless we achieve them,” said sophomore goalkeeper Jenna Golden. “Winning the conference is an important goal to every one of us.”
Another important goal is making sure BU doesn’t play down to its opponents. Both of the Terriers losses this season have come to unranked teams, and Stony Brook is in the same boat.
“Any loss in the America East would be devastating,” Lewis said. “But it’s like Liza quotes, ‘Any given team,’ that’s why you play, because any day any given team can go out there and win. There’s always upsets, but we’ve already had two and we’re not looking for anymore.”
“At this point every game we have to come out and play like we are playing a ranked opponent,” Golden said. “Nothing is given freely to us. Anything can happen. We just have to work hard, play like we know we can play and take every game seriously.”
BU’s main threat will come from 5-foot, 5-inch junior Amy Taylor, who leads the Seawolves in goals (16) and points (22).
“Taylor is one of the big scorers on their team this season and has been successful for them in the past, so she is someone we are going to look to shut down,” Golden said. “But she isn’t the only offensive threat on their team, so we are basically looking to play defensively like we did against Yale and shut the entire offense down.”
With the way BU has been playing, the old cliché “the best offense is a good defense” shouldn’t even come into play, because both sides of the roster are performing so well. The Terriers beat Stony Brook, 17-8, last season and — as long as their timing is right — will look to do the same on Saturday.
“I think it’s a great time to start conference play,” Golden said. “Having two wins in a row and breaking the win-one, lose-one pattern really helps with our confidence level. I think we have enough game experience now to really come out against an America East opponent and show them that we belong at the top of the conference.”