In the 22nd minute of the first half against the University of the Pacific Sunday, Boston University field hockey junior fullback Rachel Coll gets ready for her fifth penalty corner insert of the day.
After raising her stick in preparation, she delivers a pass in to sophomore midfielder Ellie Landsman, who proceeds to set up a shot for junior midfielder Sofi Laurito. Laurito winds up and shoots from the point of the half circle.
At first glance, the shot appears to be traveling wide right of the cage, until a stick comes out of nowhere to intercept the errant attempt. The ball deflects off the stick and jumps just past the diving frame of Tigers (2-3) goalkeeper Laura Pujade. Manning the goal-scoring stick is reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, sophomore forward Amanda Cassera.
This connection between Laurito and Cassera has been a constant one for the Terriers (2-2), as they cruised to a 1-0 victory over Pacific at New Balance Field.
“It was a set piece that they scored on, and we’ve really been practicing that a lot,” said BU coach Sally Starr. “So I’m really happy to see that work out so well because it was a tough set piece, a very intricate set piece. Sophie delivered a perfect ball, and Amanda did exactly what she needed to do on it.”
Last year, Laurito and Cassera tied for the team lead in both points and goals with 16 and eight, respectively. For Laurito, her efforts earned her Patriot League First Team honors, an upgrade from her freshman year, in which she was named to the America East All-Rookie Team.
Hailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina, the talented midfielder uses her speed to dribble the ball upfield and create scoring opportunities. Once Laurito makes it into the half circle, opposing defenders have to be wary of her back-handed shots.
Laurito collected two game-winners during the 2013 season — Sept. 15 versus Providence College and Sept. 21 versus Colgate University, to tie for the team lead. Despite starting in just 13 of the Terriers’ 20 games in the 2013 season, Laurito’s production was amongst the best on a team that had seven All-Patriot League award recipients.
While Laurito works her magic from the midfield, Cassera uses her size and technical skill to manhandle defenses. With a 5-foot-10 frame, Cassera has the wingspan necessary to make plays on crosses into the box, as evidenced by her most recent goal against the Tigers.
Following a historic freshman campaign, the Fairfield, New Jersey, native has only improved this season, posting a .727 shot-on-goal percentage this season.
“Both are very skilled attacking players,” Starr said. “Amanda hasn’t scored a field goal yet for us, but she’s really getting better in the open field, eliminating dangers on the ball, creating corner opportunities for us.”
As the Terriers prepare for their next challenge, this dynamic duo’s offensive output will be needed more than ever. BU will face off with Commonwealth Avenue rival Boston College Friday on the road, in a replay of last year’s matchup that ended with the Eagles (2-1) victorious in a heart-wrenching 1-0 affair at New Balance Field.
Going forward for BU, it will be even more crucial that Laurito and Cassera maintain their level of production, as sophomore forwards Taylor Blood and Sara Martineau have not shown consistency thus far. With conference play looming ever closer, the Terriers’ Patriot League title aspirations may lie on the backs of these two stellar offensive threats.
Justin is a former Sports Editor for the Daily Free Press. In the past, he has covered the BU field hockey, men's basketball, women's hockey and women's lacrosse teams. Justin has interned at WEEI.com and serves as Editor-In-Chief of the Cleveland sports blog, Straight Down Euclid. Follow him on Twitter: @just_a_pal
I agree that Amanda and Sofi are both incredible players but they are in absolutely no way “carrying the load” for the team. There are a lot of amazing players on BU’s field hockey team especially Sara and Taylor who you so unnecessarily put down. While I do appreciate Amanda and Sofi’s point records, the number of goals a player scores in a game does NOT directly reflect their performance in a season as can be seen by any of the defenders. And if you’re basing someone’s strength as a player off the number of goals they’ve scored, it’s pretty clear you do not understand other aspects of the game. Look at how many players it took to get in the circle let alone earn that corner and successfully execute it.
P.S. They’re only 4 games into the season and haven’t even played a league game yet. There’s a lot more to be seen from everyone on the team.
I completely agree with the comment above. This year for the first time the BU field hockey team is actually playing collectively. The stats don’t reflect anything, it doesn’t show how hard some people work to give opportunities to others.
The definition of team says that there is no I in a team so I definitely think the BU field hockey team is carried by 19 people and not 2 individual people.
This article should be named Cerda Eimbcke, Coll, Sperry, Beesmer. Landsman, Shumock, Bernatchez, Renzi, Toomey, McClain, Blood, Martineau, van der Laan, Cassera, Boston, Feig, Jensen, Baumberger, Laurito carrying the team.
Actually the people on the sideline are as important as the people on the field.