With its 6-4 win against the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., the Boston University men’s lacrosse team all but assured itself a spot in this year’s playoffs.
BU will likely play either Northeastern University or the University of Connecticut next Wednesday in the first round.
“I’m pretty sure that we are locked for the playoffs,” said BU coach Daniel Morris said.
He said he thinks his team will garner the sixth and final seed.
The win yesterday improved BU’s record to 4-5 and was a confidence booster after a series of tough losses to the University of New Hampshire, Connecticut and Northeastern.
Although the Coast Guard (2-5) didn’t have the strongest offensive attack in the league, BU’s defense only allowed 19 shots on backup goalie Al Moore.
The sophomore gave up four goals while giving junior goaltender Brad Dynowicz a much-needed rest.
Moore capped off his strong performance by assisting on a goal.
As the low score would indicate, it wasn’t just BU that played well on defense.
“They had three large defensemen who were in very good shape, and they moved well with our attackmen,” Morris said. “Their defenders were extremely effective and they would swarm us to the point that we couldn’t even pass out of it.
“We didn’t control the game today. We let them make a lot of mistakes, and we found that we have to move the ball better.”
Playing without a suspended Gustav Schmidt on attack, Boston University’s unlikely scoring came from freshman Karl Pederson, who had two goals.
Sophomore Matt Lau also had two goals in the win.
Daniel Balbony was the team leader on defense, as he moved from midfield for yesterday’s game to fill a void due to a shortage of players.
Morris is eagerly anticipating a playoff meeting with Northeastern or Connecticut, as both teams have beat BU with last second offensive barrages this season.
“I’m really looking forward to facing them,” Morris said. “If all of our guys are there, and we play the way we can against them — I mean, those teams only barely beat us. If it comes down to another close game, I know we will win.”
BU wraps up its regular season Monday on the road against the University of Rhode Island, who is undefeated this season.
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