And just like that, they’re back in the game.
Coming off a disheartening loss Wednesday afternoon, the members of the Boston University field hockey team came back with a vengeance this weekend.
The Terriers knocked off the University at Albany Saturday in a 2-1 overtime thriller, then returned home Sunday to dominate Dartmouth University, 7-0.
Saturday’s game was one of the toughest tests of the season for a BU team that needed to win to keep its hopes of hosting the conference tournament alive.
“It was a gutsy, hard-fought victory for us,” said BU coach Sally Starr. “I think we played particularly well in the first half. It was cold, it was windy, we were away and I was just really proud of the way that we competed and got a huge victory.”
Though it took a total team effort to knock off the Danes, who were previously undefeated in America East play, it was freshman Suus Dekker who stole the show for the Terriers. Dekker accounted for all of BU’s offensive output on the day-including netting the game-winner just 40 seconds into the extra frame. Her two goals were her fifth and sixth of the season.
BU drew first blood, scoring the team’s first goal just 44 seconds before halftime.
Off one of the Terriers’ four corners of the half, sophomore Holly Wiles blasted a shot to the net that was saved by Albany goalie Ashley Ross. The rebound, however, was collected by Dekker and fired home for the score.
“She’s been getting better and better as the season’s been going on,” Starr said. “She’s been getting a little more comfortable with our style of play and our system. She played very well, but I think the whole team played very well.”
Albany retaliated in the second half on a penalty corner of its own, when freshman Nicole Savage ripped a shot to the boards in the 46th minute.
“We definitely had opportunities late into the second half to win the game,” Starr said. “I just think that you could see it on our faces when we came off at the end of regulation that we’re not going to let this one go, it’s not going to be similar to what happened in Vermont.”
But it didn’t take the Terriers long to seal the deal and head home with the victory. Just 40 seconds into the overtime period, Sarah Shute drew a foul in the circle to award BU a penalty corner. Holly Wiles took the pass and sent it to the cage only to have it tipped in by Dekker for the win.
“Definitely a huge victory for us,” Starr said. “It was the type of game that every loose ball, every inch of the field you had to fight for and I think statistically we did a great job really dominating what we were doing out there as well.”
Sunday, BU traveled home to take on Dartmouth in a non-conference match against the Ivy League team.
The Terriers had no trouble dominating the game from the start-scoring early and often.
Led by a hat trick by junior forward Hayley Hamada, four Terriers contributed to the scoring push. Hamada was joined by Shute and Pam Spuehler on the scoresheet, along with Dekker who tallied her third goal of the weekend.
Hamada scored the first three goals of the day for BU. The first came off a breakaway on a pass from Shute downfield in the second minute of play. Her second goal came in the 15th minute of play on yet another pass from Shute. The third and final goal for Hamada came on an unassisted play with just three minutes remaining before the half.
“My nickname for her is Hayley Houdini,” Starr said. “I just think it’s very tough to tackle her when she’s playing well. I think she’s one of the best strikers not only on our team but in the country. When she plays with tenaciousness, she’s really effective so it was nice to see her get a hat trick.”
The Terriers scored four more in the second half with two goals from Shute, one from Spuehler and one from Dekker.
Shute’s first goal came in the 43rd minute off a pass from Lizzie Perrault, with her second goal unassisted with just under seven minutes remaining.
Spuehler scored in the 43rd minute as well-just seconds after Shute-putting the Terriers up 5-0 on a pass from Hamada. Dekker followed that up by ripping home her own goal in the 52nd minute.
“What’s great is we were able to get some players who don’t normally see a lot of playing time some good minutes, and everybody played well,” Starr said. “We’re finding in these games that the kids are able to come out and be effective and we’re not just 11 deep, we have some good kids who can come in off the bench and be effective.”