Field Hockey: Terriers Stay Perfect in OT win over Northeastern
BOSTON — Senior Hester Van Der Laan struggled with Northeastern’s defense all night. Every time she had the ball, two to four Huskies converged on her within seconds. The one opening she got, she made the best of.
Boston University (3-0) dropped their cross-town rival Northeastern to 2-1, opening the 2016 home schedule with a 2-1 overtime win. This marked BU’s fourth win in the last five games against their Boston neighbors, and for the second year running they needed extra time to do so.
After twenty minutes of limited action, junior Allie Renzi opened her account. After a three-point (one goal, one assist) Wildcat Classic final in New Hampshire, she was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week. On offense, Renzi added her second goal of the season on a cross from Taylor Blood.
From there, the Terriers threatened to strike again, repeatedly hemming the Huskies deep in their defensive zone. But seven minutes after going up by one, BU found itself knotted up again.
Rachel Campbell, a sophomore out of Watertown, found Laura MacLachlan inside the shooting circle. MacLachlan scored her second goal against BU in as many games.
From the half onward, play shuffled back and forth between in the midfield with limited opportunities either way. Both Cammy Jensen and Becky Garner, senior goaltenders for BU and Northeastern, finished the night with three saves. Garner was not challenged by a shot on goal the entire second half.
After a spell of Husky control, the clock ticked down as BU went forward with speed. The offense managed to earn a penalty corner to end regulation, but could not handle the inserting pass, thus squandering the chance and concluding the 70 minutes of regulation.
In the overtime period both teams went down to just six outfield players per NCAA overtime rules. The Huskies seemed poised to attack, then MacLachlan took out a Terrier and was sent off for two minutes. Alas, the moment had come.
At seven-on-six, BU was presented the golden chance it needed. Off a restart, Van Der Laan went forward with speed and blew by Northeastern’s defense. With the last defender to beat closing on her, she dumped the ball off to Blood. Garner over committed to Van Der Laan, allowing Blood a clear lane to fire home the OT winner.
Terriers sprinted from the bench to celebrate their third straight victory. For the first time since 2012, the Terriers open the season 3-0. To beat that year’s 5-0 start, they would have to sweep the remaining out-of-conference games in the opening home stand.
Sunday at 1 p.m. against Miami University is their next chance for the best start in program history.
Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMaiP0ZJI7k