The No. 13 Boston University field hockey team started last weekend's slate of games with a clobbering at the hands of No. 5 Michigan State University by a score of 6-1 on Saturday. Their efforts on Sunday, however, yielded a 2-1 victory over Kent State University and put a lot of positive emphasis on what would otherwise have been a weekend that the Terriers would want to forget.
"It really speaks volumes to this team's integrity and their courage because less mature teams could have really crumbled, especially after [the game against the Spartans] and then going down 1-0 [against Kent State]," said BU coach Sally Starr.
In the team's first game after a loss, the Terriers (7-2) were faced with the daunting task of facing the Spartans (8-1), a team that boasted a potent offense and a history of strong performances. Northeastern University had sent BU packing from its home field the previous Sunday despite a 24-3 BU advantage in shots. It was the first loss of the season for BU, and it raised the buildup placed on Saturday night's contest against MSU.
During the game, the Terriers found themselves playing catch-up early. At the 12:30 mark, Spartan senior Amanda Huck scored the first goal for MSU. By the end of the first half, the Spartans had built a 3-0 lead on three shots.
A halftime break was not enough to put the Terriers back on the right track, as the Spartans added to their lead just 29 seconds into the second stanza. At that point, MSU had a dominant four-goal lead on just four shots, an occurrence that resembled the Terriers' game against the Huskies all too well.
BU was able to find the back of the net in the 54th minute of the contest when sophomore back Jacinda McLeod sent a ball from sophomore back Rachael White and senior striker Allie Dolce between the posts and past Spartan goalie Molly Cassidy (9 saves).
As it turned out, the offensive breakthrough was too little, too late as the Spartans would score twice more on their final four shots to complete the 6-1 drubbing.
Possibly more surprising than the shot discrepancy (BU outshot MSU 17-8) is the fact that neither of the Terrier goalies in senior Amanda Smith and sophomore Julie Collins, who split the game in net, recorded a single save on the day.
"I think our game against Michigan was a lot like our Northeastern game except that we gave up some really, really bad goals," Starr said. "I think Amanda struggled, quite honestly, that day, and Julie struggled that day as well, for them to score six goals in eight shots. But also, our defense let the goalies down."
Prior to the weekend, Smith and Collins had allowed three goals and one goal, respectively, over six games, five of which were split and one of which was played entirely by Smith.
After their second loss in a row, the Terriers returned to the field on Sunday against Kent State looking to avoid falling to 6-3 on the season.
"We did a lot of hard work last night," Starr said on Sunday. "We had some individual meetings. We had a team meeting. We really got ourselves ready and refocused. I'm really proud. We played an excellent hockey game [on Sunday] against an excellent hockey team.
"It was a really tough matchup for us to come back after a tough loss against Michigan State. It was not an easy game at all."
The Golden Flashes' 4-4 record may appear rather pedestrian, but the fact that they out-shot and shut out MSU 2-0 on Friday night to hand them their first and only loss on the season makes them a more formidable opponent than their record would indicate.
The Terriers found themselves down early once again on Sunday after junior forward Debbie Bell converted a corner, tallying the first goal of the game 12 minutes into the first half.
After two disappointing games, however, the Terriers were not going to let another slip away.
In defiant fashion, BU wrestled momentum and control of the game back onto their sticks by converting the tying goal just over two minutes after giving up the initial tally. Sophomore forward Leslie Zules redirected home a beautiful long pass from McLeod, scoring her first goal of the season.
In the 48th minute, the Terriers were able to knock home the winning goal off of the stick of junior striker Andrea Greene for her seventh goal of the season. It was a fitting finish for a team that stressed team play and quality shooting in practice throughout the week because the goal, although unassisted, came after a number of quality passes.
"There's a lot of hockey that is played between getting the ball from the backfield up to where Andrea was able to score that goal," Starr said. "It really started from the 16-yard outlet. It was almost a clinic in holding possession and then really stringing and going to the goal. There was probably a series of about seven or eight passes before it got to Andrea, maybe even more like nine or 10 passes. It was really one of those highlight goals, and you couldn't draw it up better on a blackboard."
Starr also made the game-time decision on Sunday to put Smith between the pipes for her second full game of the season based on warm-ups. Smith finished with three saves and one goal allowed, including one save that, according to Starr, "was absolutely tougher than any of the shots she saw [against MSU]."</p>
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