Lacrosse, Sports

Six-peat?

With its 10-8 win on the road over the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Feb. 24, and last night’s 9-5 win over Brown University, the No. 10 Boston University lacrosse team is off to a quick start this season.

But six upcoming games against currently ranked opponents and a sixth-consecutive America East Conference Championship on the line should make for a very interesting rest of the season for the Terriers.

BU will cross paths with No. 5 Duke University, No. 8 University of Notre Dame and No. 6 Syracuse University in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament first round game that saw the Orange send the Terriers home, 20-10.

Once the difficult out-of-conference schedule has concluded, the Terriers will look to defend their AE title for an astounding fifth time, as well as continue their 22-game conference win streak.

Attack

In order to be successful in this season’s endeavors, the Terriers will have to rely on the strength of their attackers.

Despite graduating attacker Sarah Dalton &- whose 91 goals and 102 points last season were the most ever for a Terrier in a single season &- the Terriers return four of their top five scorers from a year ago. Senior co-captains Traci Landy (56 goals) and McKinley Curro (40 goals) are the team’s top returning goal scorers. Fellow seniors, attacker Xan Weitzel and defender Erica Baumgartner, who tied for the third-most assists in a single season by a Terrier with 39 apiece last year, will be called upon to feed the scoring machines, Landy and Curro.

However, the only Terrier attacker to gain an accolade in last week’s win over UMass was freshman attacker Danielle Etrasco. The newcomer, who earned All-American honors in high school, netted three goals in her collegiate debut, good enough to earn AE Rookie of the Week honors.

Midfield

Holding down the middle of the field for the Terriers will be senior co-captain and defensive midfielder Jenny Martin, the only returning midfielder to start all 19 games for the Terriers last season.

Juniormidfielders Rachel Collins,Corcoran DowneyandMandy Rogers, all starters against UMass, were the other midfielders to participate in all 19 contests last season.

Downey was named to the AE All-Conference team last season after leading the team with 26 caused turnovers. She earned an invitation to try out for the U.S. Lacrosse Women’s Developmental Team at season’s end, along with Martin, Curro and senior goalkeeper Rachel Klein.

Defense

The defense was dealt a huge blow when senior defender Courtney Burd, the only returning defender to start all 19 games last year, became injured in the fall, ending her senior campaign.

Fellow senior Caitlin Defliese and junior Kate Cipolletti were the starting defenders Feb. 24. Defliese is easily the most experienced of the two, having seen action in 13 games last year to Cipoletti’s five. Freshman Monica Baumgartner, sister of senior attacker Erica Baumgartner, also saw action in the first game of her collegiate career off the bench.

Last year, the Terriers allowed on average 9.75 goals per game, second in the conference. But with these Terriers lacking experience, they will have trouble keeping that number low this season.

Goalkeeping

As BU defenders take starting spots for the first time, Klein returns to start in net for the third year in a row. Other than the invitation to the Developmental Team tryout, Klein can also has two consecutive All-Conference Second Team honors on her resume. This is her second year as captain of the Terriers.

However, it’s not been all roses for the senior. Her goals against-average ballooned to 10.09 in 2009 after checking in at 8.32 in 2008. Her save percentage also dipped from .514 to .444 during that time. But if the eight goals she allowed and her .500 save percentage against UMass are any indication, Klein appears poised to return to her sophomore year form during her senior campaign.

Also, for the first time in her three years in net, Klein will have a backup this season, freshman Kim Elsworth. Elsworth started all four years at Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, N.Y., and even led the New York Adirondack Empire Team to a championship win.

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