After a crushing loss in double overtime against University of New Hampshire, the Boston University lacrosse team sits in third place in the America East Conference with a 6-5 overall record, 2-1 in AE play. Their recent loss to the Wildcats snapped the Terriers’ three-game win streak, which was their longest of the season.
Despite their loss, the Terriers still have a very strong team filled with many star players, such as s
ophomore attack Danielle Etrasco, senior attack Erica Baumgartner and senior midfielder Corcoran Downey.
Etrasco is the leading scorer for the Terriers and has the second-most goals in the AE (33) to go along with seven assists. She scores on 53.2 percent of her shots and she is also second on the team with 27 draw controls.
Baumgartner is the Terriers’ assist leader and second in the AE with 20 on the season. She is also now the all-time BU assist leader with 109 career assists. She scores on 52.2 percent of her shots, with 12 goals in 23 shots.
Anchoring the defense is Downey, who leads the team with 17 caused turnovers and 25 ground balls. She is a three-time AE Defensive Player of the Week, with two of those awards coming in back-to-back weeks. Her turnovers and ground balls place her third and fourth, respectively, in the AE.
Other notable players are junior attack Hannah Frey, with the team’s second-most goals (21), senior midfielder Rachel Collins with a team-leading 33 draw controls and second most ground balls (23) and freshman goalkeeper Christina Sheridan, who has saved 44.5 percent of all shots she has faced.
By the numbers
As a team, the Terriers outscore their opponents 125-112, with 11.36 goals per game to their opponents’ 10.18, while being outshot 271-268. The Terriers are also more efficient than their opponents, scoring on 46.6 percent of their shots while their opponents score on just 41.3 percent. They also have played better at home as they have a 4-1 home record compared to only a 2-4 away record.
In the America East, BU is first in only two categories: assists and fouls. The first may indicate a higher level of teamwork than the rest of the teams in the AE. The second, however, could show a lack of discipline, something that the Terriers will need to work on in the future as the season progresses toward the postseason.
Despite the statistics that speak highly of the Terriers, the team will have to consistently pull it all together and start to click in the rest of the season to take back the top spot in the conference. Realistically, BU is going to need to win consistently in conference play to take over the No. 1 spot in the AE standings. Their remaining opponents include Stony Brook University, University of Vermont and University at Albany.
Up next
Albany, 11-0 on the season and 3-0 in AE play, has been the conference’s best team throughout the season. While the Great Danes still have some challenging games ahead, it increasingly looks like they will be a very tough team to beat. The Terriers will play Albany this Saturday at Nickerson Field. This game could ultimately decide the conference regular-season title, so BU will need to come out strong to retake their position at the top of the AE.
Before Albany, BU will take on its cross-town rival, Boston College on the road on Wednesday. The Terriers will need to work out the problems that led to their loss to UNH. With a big win against the Eagles, the Terriers can gain some much-needed momentum to carry into what might be the biggest game of the season against Albany on Saturday.
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