In their matchup against Old Dominion University on Sunday, the No. 11 Boston University field hockey team controlled nearly every offensive stat in the game except the one that mattered most, as they fell to the Monarchs 1-0 at Jack Barry Field.
"I think our team competed really successfully today against [ODU]," BU coach Sally Starr said. "In every way but the scoreboard."
BU (6-3) had possession of the ball throughout most of the scoreless first half, tallying five penalty corners and nine shots, including senior forward Allie Dolce's shot about five minutes into the game, possibly the team's best scoring opportunity.
Starr said she was disappointed in the team's inability to capitalize on any of its offensive opportunities, but she told the team at halftime to "just really keep on doing a lot of the things we were doing."
As the second half began, ODU (4-6) senior Loran Hatch did not waste much time to put the Terriers back on their heels. Hatch put the Monarchs ahead when she scored the eventual game-winning goal, just three and a half minutes into the second half. The goal came on ODU's lone penalty corner of the game and was just one of four total shots on goal for the Monarchs.
Starr said that allowing the goal was far from ideal, but she was not necessarily worried at that point.
"It's a little frustrating, perhaps, because we could have been up 1-0, 2-0, 3-0," Starr said. "But that's going to happen in a game like this. Them scoring that one goal, I really wasn't concerned. I thought we would have been able to tie it up and win it."
As the second half wound down, Starr called a timeout with about 12 minutes to go but still thought "we could get two goals in."
After that timeout, the team switched to "a very aggressive pressing style" of play, according to Starr. That led to three more penalty corners&-the last of 12 total corners on the day for the Terriers&-in the last two minutes of the game. But the recurring theme for BU held right through the final buzzer, and the Terriers couldn't convert on any of the penalty corners.
"That's something we really have to look at," Starr said. "We have to be better at it. I mean, that's the game right there.
We should be able to execute one corner out of 12. We have to be able to score on that."
Starr said that while the windy and cloudy weather did not play a role in the Terriers' play Sunday, the field conditions did.
"In my team's defense, this field is shredded," Starr said of BU's home turf. "It's like playing ice hockey if the ice is never Zambonied. It's our home field, and we have to figure it out and find the patches."
BU has never beaten ODU in program history, but Starr said that did not have an effect on the team going into the game and that the team does have much respect for the Monarchs.
"We have great respect for Old Dominion," Starr said. "This is a real quality opponent. This would have been a really quality win for us. Old Dominion is an outstanding team. Their record does not reflect at all how good they are."
The win extends ODU's win streak to three games while the loss was BU's third in four games. The Terriers' next game is Friday at the University of Vermont, the team's first conference game of the season.
"We let one get away today," Starr said. "We have to regroup and work hard this week."
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