The Boston University women’s lacrosse team will travel to Tyler’s Field in Hamilton, N.Y., to take on Patriot League foe Colgate University Wednesday afternoon.
Sophomore midfielder Jill Horka is fourth on BU with 18 points this year.
The No. 24 Terriers (6-6, 4-1 Patriot League) are looking to rebound after a double-overtime loss to Lehigh University, BU’s only defeat in the Patriot League thus far in 2014. The loss snapped the Terriers’ five-game winning streak. The Terriers were down 8-4 at one point in the contest, clawed back to take a 10-8 lead, but could not hold the advantage and fell in the sudden-death frame.
The unranked Colgate Raiders (4-7, 2-3 Patriot League) have dropped two consecutive games coming into Wednesday’s contest to the hands of the No. 20 U.S. Naval Academy and No. 15 Loyola University-Maryland. The Raiders also dropped a contest to the College of the Holy Cross on March 8 during their Patriot League schedule.
BU is 4-2 all-time against Colgate, dating back to the 1982 campaign. The last time the two teams met was in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, where the Terriers were victorious by a score of 12-6. The matchup will be the first time the teams are playing in the same conference.
“It’s going to be tough, I won’t lie to you,” said BU coach Liz Robertshaw about the upcoming contest. “We don’t have a lot of history with this team so it’s going to be a challenge to find that fire and inner aggression.
“We’ve been familiar with the teams in America East [Conference], but this challenges us to look at each opponent and look for motivation and go at them aggressively.”
Wednesday’s matchup will have possible postseason conference tournament consequences. BU is tied for second in the Patriot League standings with Navy (12-1, 4-1 Patriot League) and can punch its ticket to the six-team Patriot League tournament with a win. Loyola (5-0, 9-4 Patriot League) is the only team that has clinched a spot in the tournament thus far.
Robertshaw said she is attempting to keep her team focused on the task at hand, instead of looking too far ahead to possible postseason aspirations.
“We haven’t really talked about the Patriot League Tournament,” Robertshaw said. “Right now I want to keep them focused on the game plan for tomorrow.”
Offensively for BU, the attack has found its form this season, boasting 12 or more goals scored by five players and at least 10 points from seven players. The team-high of 18 goals belongs to senior attack Becca Church, who has marked at least one point BU’s last nine games.
Junior attack Jill Horka has contributed at least one point in the past nine matches as well, along with 21 draw controls and 17 forced turnovers. Junior attack Lindsay Weiner tops the BU squad with 13 assists.
Colgate’s offense also boasts some firepower in junior Megan Ark. The midfielder stands at second in the Patriot League in scoring. Ark averages 2.73 goals per game and has contributed 30 points for the season. Sophomore Kallan Murray also poses a threat to the Terriers, as she owns a team-high 16 assists.
In net, the Terriers could look to start freshman Caroline Meegan. She holds a 10.65 goals-against average and a .419 save percentage. Senior Christina Sheridan may be stationed in goal as well, as she has been seeing more playing time over the past few games. Sheridan owns a 8.75 goals-against average and a .455 save percentage in her final year with the Terriers.
On the other end of the field, junior Jennie Berglin, who has started all 11 games, will likely be between the pipes for the Raiders. Berglin has compiled a 10.64 goals-against average and a .431 save percentage for Colgate.
In terms of an overall game plan, Robertshaw said she hopes that her team will buckle down and focus on where it can improve against the Raiders.
“We just have to bring our game,” Robertshaw said. “There are always distractions, but we’re working on bringing our best game. We had a good practice and we learned some things we need to work on.
“The more we do that, the better we’ll be now and down the stretch.”
