As the Boston University field hockey team prepares for its first conference game of the season, the significance of Tuesday’s home match against the University of New Hampshire is not lost on either the players or the coaches.
‘The team is highly motivated, and this is a big game,’ said BU assistant coach Tracey Paul. ‘UNH is a formidable opponent. They play a fast, fluid style of hockey. We are emotionally ready and we are physically ready.’
As the conference opener for the Terriers (4-2), Tuesday’s contest against the Wildcats (3-3) will provide the BU team with an opportunity to push its way into the top tier of the America East Conference. According to senior midfielder Lindsey Domers, the Terriers will draw extra incentive from the fact the Wildcats were ranked No. 2 in the America East preseason coaches’ poll, while BU was picked to finish fourth.
‘We don’t think we are the fourth-best team in the conference,’ Domers said. ‘We consider ourselves a top team. It’s okay to be the underdog. You know, it’s easier to make it up to the top than to stay there.’
Coming off of a 1-0 victory over Yale University on Sunday, the Terrier offense has shown signs of life, Paul said.
‘We have a solid passing game. We are formidable offensively. We are motivated to score some goals,’ Paul said. ‘We had our offensive opportunities against Yale and we didn’t finish, but we worked on that in practice today.’
Compounding any offensive issues for the Terriers is the fact that BU will be playing for the second time in three days, while the Wildcats have not played since a 5-3 victory over Yale Sept. 19. Domers, however, refuses to lend any credibility to concerns about fatigue or exhaustion.
‘I think we are [physically ready],’ she said. ‘We had a good practice with nothing too physical. We’ve played some back-to-back games already, so we can definitely handle this.’
BU will benefit from the return of senior Genna Clough, who suffered an ankle injury Sept. 10 against Boston College. Clough will take to the field for the first time in nearly two weeks on Tuesday, and although Paul said Clough will see ‘limited playing time,’ her return will offer an emotional lift for BU, Domers said.
‘We are definitely excited to have her back,’ she said. ‘It’s great to have her back from the injury and ready to play.’
Defensively, the Terriers will seek to stifle the Wildcats’ two leading scorers junior Jenn Harrison, who has four goals this season, and sophomore Katie White, who has three.
Harrison and White will face an equally difficult opponent in the form of the BU defense, led by redshirt freshman goalkeeper Erin Prediger, the reigning America East Rookie of the Week. Prediger is the anchor of a backfield that has allowed opponents a paltry 1.33 goals per game this year.
‘[Jenn Harrison and Katie White] are corners, and Erin and the rest of our corner defense have done an exceptional job, especially against set pieces,’ Paul said. ‘I think Erin will be ready to stop any direct shots.’
According to Domers, the Terriers will be extremely motivated to go onto the field on Tuesday and play their way into the upper echelon of the America East Conference.
‘We’re excited,’ she said. ‘We’ve played a lot of games so far [this season], but this is our first conference game. We’re ready to go out there and prove ourselves.’
This year’s Terrier squad features five seniors, all of whom regularly see action and all of whom vividly remember their freshman year, when BU won the America East Conference. Celeste Hubbard, Whitney Peabody and Dalinda Banuelos, as well as Domers and Clough, will seek to lead the Terriers in a return to the zenith of the conference, a task of which Domers said the Terriers are quite capable.
‘For our senior class, we haven’t won the conference since our freshman year,’ she said. ‘We think this is the best team we have been on at BU. On and off the field, this is the team we want to win with.’