Lacrosse, Sports

Strong second half saves the Terriers

It was a tale of two halves for the Boston University lacrosse team against Brown University at Nickerson Field yesterday.

Down by a goal to Brown at the end of the first half, the Terriers bounced back in the second period thanks to better shot selection, strong defense, strong goaltending and a positive percentage of winning draws.

BU struggled to find the back of the net in the first half. The Terriers’ offense put 10 shots on goal and scored on just three of them. In comparison, the Terrier defense held Brown to only four shots in the first half, but the Bears scored on three of those. Senior goalie and captain Rachel Klein struggled mightily, failing to stop a single shot as the Bears tallied their three goals on free-position shots.

Although BU dominated the majority of the play in the visitors’ defensive zone, Brown freshman goalie Isabel Harvey was up to the task with seven saves.

But Klein and her teammates regrouped during intermission and put together an impressive half. The offense, led by sophomore midfielder Hannah Frey, began choosing quality over quantity in terms of shots. The Terriers took 12 total shots in the second half, finding the back of the net on six of those shots. Frey was successful on her two free-position shots, and tallied a goal on each of her four shots on goal.

The Terrier defense buckled down in the second half. Brown took 12 shots, but only one of those shots found its way past Klein. The BU defense was on pace to keep the Bears off the scoreboard in the second half, but a goal by freshman Kaela McGilloway with 2:46 remaining in the game spoiled that hope.

The Terriers held Brown scoreless for over 28 minutes, a stretch that began with 16 seconds left in the first half. The Terriers held the Bears’ offense to only five goals, quite a feat considering the Bears tallied 14 goals in their previous game against Sacred Heart University.

Klein looked like her normal self in the second half, making five saves while giving up only one goal. After struggling to stop free-position shots in the opening stanza, Klein was a brick wall in net resulting in the Bears going 0-for-4 on second-half free-position shots.

While the offense, defense and goalie all made valuable and game changing halftime adjustments, what might have been the key to yesterday’s victory was winning the draws.

The Terriers dominated the battle for draws throughout the game, winning 11 draws in comparison to five for the Bears. BU really took control of the draws, however, in the second half. Down by one goal after the intermission, it was crucial that the Terriers disallow the Bears any chance to increase their lead. Senior captain Traci Landy won the draw, and after controlling the ball in the Bears’ zone, senior attacker Xan Weitzel got the ball to junior midfielder Rachel Collins who fired a shot past Harvey just 55 seconds into the period.

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