Boston University women’s lacrosse coach Sue Murphy usually begins each season with a list of goals she would like her team to achieve.
This year, the players approached her with a list of their own.
“They’d like to be America East conference and tournament champions,” Murphy said. “They’d like to get to the Final Four, which is definitely reachable with the personnel we have.”
The Terriers enter this season full of optimism.
BU finished first in America East last year with a 15-4 overall record and were undefeated in league competition. Fifteen wins were the most ever in BU’s history. The Terriers were also perfect at home, winning all eight games.
BU finished the 2000 season ranked 11th in the nation and earned its first-ever NCAA tournament berth.
Senior midfielder Chrissy Lombard earned America East Player of the Year honors for the second time in her career, while Murphy received Coach of the Year honors, for the second consecutive season.
The Terriers’ return 10 of 12 starters, including last year’s most lethal offensive weapon in Lombard, who became the BU’s all-time leading scorer last season with 189 career points.
The Terriers have also added a talented group of freshmen to their roster. Among them are Kelly Trahon, Hannah Cross, Sasha Lang and Polly Purcell, who was last year’s co-player of the year in the state of Maryland for high school lacrosse.
BU (1-1) began the season as the No. 9 team in the country. The Terriers lost their season opener 10-6 against No. 7 James Madison University.
BU then faced the University of North Carolina and beat the No. 4 Tar Heels, 14-7, on Sunday.
Junior midfielder Kristin Abruzzese led the Terriers through their first two games, tallying six goals and one assist. Four of her six came against North Carolina, and what’s more remarkable is that Abruzzese played with an injured shoulder.
“We’ve had some recurring injuries,” Murphy said. “Kristin injured herself in the North Carolina game so I’m going to have to lean on [the freshmen] more.”
Senior midfielder Kyle Rutkowski also scored four goals against the Heels. She is BU’s second-leading scorer with four goals and two assists.
“After the weekend I’m very optimistic,” Murphy said. “It was really a bold statement to go up 6-0 on [North Carolina]. It was a statement that we’re playing at a higher level than last year.”
After the split, the Terriers jumped two spots to No. 7 in this week’s IWLCA lacrosse poll. It is the highest national ranking BU has ever achieved.
The Terriers will be anchored on defense this year by junior goalkeeper Brooke Barrett. Barrett was impressive in her first two outings, making 22 saves. She has a .564 save percentage and an 8.50 goals-against average. Barrett has played all but 12 minutes in goal the last two seasons.
BU faces No. 12 Dartmouth College one week from today in its home opener. The game will be played at Boston College’s Alumni Field due to renovations on Nickerson Field. The Terriers will play their first five games at alternate sites.
“Being ranked seventh in the country and not having a field, I really have to give credit to my girls,” Murphy said.
Murphy said she thinks this year’s squad is the best she has ever had at BU.
BU returns to action on Friday at Temple University.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
