Playing in driving rain and winds that made field conditions less-than-desirable, Colgate University spoiled the Boston University women’s lacrosse team’s Senior Night on Wednesday afternoon at Nickerson Field.
Despite immediately taking control of the ball from the first draw and primarily maintaining that control throughout an intense first half, the Terriers (6-6, 4-2 Patriot League) fell to the Raiders (7-5, 4-2 Patriot League) 11-7.
BU began the scoring streak with a goal by senior attack Kelsey Marafioti only two minutes into play, assisted by junior defender Remy Nolan. Immediately following the goal, the Terriers capitalized on the yellow card of Colgate freshman Haley O’Hanlon, with Nolan slamming in another goal.
The Terriers continued to score consistently through the first half, while the Raiders answered each goal as the rain intensified and then turned to hail at home. Though only 5-foot-2, sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Meegan saved five shots on goal in the first half of the game. The teams went into the locker room tied 5-5.
Colgate then shot ahead after returning from the locker room in the second half and took control of the scoreboard. Colgate’s offense overwhelmed BU’s defense with a mix of low shots and wily fakes to find the back of the net.
BU coach Liz Robertshaw credited Colgate for capitalizing on the Terriers’ turnovers.
“To Colgate’s credit, they capitalized on every single turnover we made, and we made a lot of them,” she said. “We had 18 turnovers for 16 shots, so whenever you have more turnovers than you do shots, it’s not going to end well, and I think we learned that.”
The teams’ shooting strategies directly opposed one another, with Colgate shooting high on Meegan and BU shooting low on goalkeeper Jennie Berglin. In the second half, the slippery conditions made things like turnover and ground ball control difficult for both teams, and it hindered quick movement up the field.
“We had two looks on cage at the beginning of the second half, and we didn’t shoot. We dropped and turned over the ball, so I think that hurt us,” Robertshaw said. “And then on Colgate, on the flip side, on their possessions, they scored, or they caused turnovers, and I think that whenever a team can cause turnovers against you, it starts to chip away at you mentally.”
BU finally answered, after consistently missing control of the draw and several attempts at following ground balls, with a goal by senior attack Lindsay Weiner. However, that goal was followed by two more Colgate tallies that put the Raiders up 11-7 and prompted BU’s defense into a state of lockdown with only 7:48 left to go. Neither team would find the net for the remainder of the game, and the Raiders came away from Nickerson Field with the conference victory.
“There was some good battle,” Robertshaw said. “But I just don’t think our team wanted to compete as hard as Colgate did today.”
The two teams were fighting for a guaranteed spot in the Patriot League Tournament, and BU will continue to battle as it prepares for its final three regular season games against the University of Loyola Maryland Saturday, the University of New Hampshire on Wednesday and Bucknell University on April 18.
