The No. 17 Boston University field hockey team traveled to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Storrs, Connecticut, this past weekend to take on Lehigh University and No. 2 University of Connecticut.
The Terriers (10-5, 5-0 Patriot League) were sure to bring their A-game against the Mountain Hawks (3-11, 0-4 Patriot League), beating them 3-0 Saturday afternoon.
Almost halfway into the first half, BU struck the scoreboard first with a goal from senior midfielder/forward Sofi Laurito, who deflected the ball into the corner of the net on an original shot by junior fullback Bea Baumberger Altirriba. Just under 14 minutes later, Laurito would tally her second score of the game, this time on a penalty stroke opportunity, putting the Terriers up 2-0.
“Sofi is senior captain and she played well yesterday,” said BU coach Sally Starr. “She has that type of speed to be able to get that ball into the attacking circle and get power to the play.”
Late in the second half, sophomore midfielder/forward Kali Shumock gave BU a 3-0 lead on a tip from Altirriba, who earned her second assist of the night. It was Shumock’s first goal of the season.
Junior goalkeeper Cammy Jensen made four saves after both halves and was awarded her third shutout of the season. The win allowed BU to remain undefeated in Patriot League play as well as clinch at least a portion of the Patriot League title.
“Beating Lehigh keeps us undefeated in the conference,” Starr said. “It continues our quest to have the opportunity to host the conference tournament. I was pleased with how we played. They’re a team that really packs it in defensively, so it was tough to score. I think we did a really good job with dealing with that.”
Sunday’s story was very different for the Terriers, however, as they were the team unable to score on UConn (15-0) after both halves.
The Huskies capitalized just four and a half minutes into the game with senior Roisin Upton putting one past Jensen on a penalty corner opportunity. Less than seven minutes later, UConn pulled the lead to 2-0 on another penalty corner goal, this time from forward/midfielder Casey Umstead. It would be Umstead’s first of three on the night.
“In the first half they only got four shots,” Starr said. “Their corners were outstanding but they only got four shots on us. In the second half, I think we were really able to generate offense. I think we just really didn’t play with as much synergy offensively or defensively as we need to and as we can for seventy minutes today.”
In the second half, the Terriers were once again unable to get past the Husky defense, despite having five corner opportunities versus UConn’s two. Sophomore fullback Allie Renzi helped Jensen out by making a couple of defensive saves herself. Just 1:48 into the half, Umstead tallied her second score of the night and eleventh goal of the season.
Freshman Amelia Iacobucci gave the Huskies a 4-0 lead in the 41st minute, and just a minute later, Umstead completed her hat trick to continue UConn’s undefeated streak.
“I can say without a doubt that everyone is disappointed with how we performed today,” Starr said. “Sometimes we did some good things, but I think that across the board we could have competed a lot more successfully. It’s a videotape that we all really need to look at and get ourselves get ready for Bucknell [University].”
Ranya currently covers field hockey and women’s hockey for the Daily Free Press. As a Biology major at BU, she spends much of her time buried in her Chemistry textbook with the occasional trip to the piano practice room to rehearse her favorite piece, Debussy’s "Claire de Lune." She is an avid ice hockey fan and a proud supporter of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
