No. 21 Terriers Drop Final Road Game of Season at No. 16 Harvard, 2-1

By: Andrew Mason

BOSTON — A late Terrier rally to tie the game came up short Tuesday night, as the Harvard Crimson defeated Boston University Field Hockey, 2-1, at Berylson Family Field. The loss marked the final game on the road for the Terriers in the regular season, as only a meeting with Bucknell on Saturday stands between BU and the postseason.

Freshman Petra Hall notched the only goal of the night for the Terriers, her fifth on the year. The score came in the eighth minute of play, after junior Kara Enoch smacked the ball inside the circle where Hall was able to redirect it past Crimson goalkeeper Libby Manela. With the loss, BU falls to 10-7, though is still an undefeated 5-0 in Patriot League action.

Physicality marked the tone of Tuesday’s contest. For most of the full 70 minutes of play, both sides exhibited in-your-face defense and played with the emotion of an intense playoff game. BU did not let their guard down after having already clinched first place in the Patriot League and hosting rights throughout the PL Tournament.

“It was a physical game in a lot of ways, and for us to stay on the field and not get any cards I think was great,” said Head Coach Sally Starr. “There could have been retaliation in a game like this, and our girls really held their composure really well in a really tough match.”

In one instance, freshman Miya Denison took a rocket-pass to the face. Moments later, fully patched up and with a new jersey – her original one was stained with blood – Denison re-entered the game.

“Miya is absolutely the epitome of this freshmen class,” Starr said. “They love to play, you aren’t going to keep them off the field. A little blood, a couple stitches, doesn’t matter. I was really proud of the way [Denison] got back in the saddle, and got back in there and played.”

BU limited Harvard to only two penalty corners, far below the Crimson’s average of over seven per game. However, the Terriers earned only one penalty attempt themselves, a recipe for a low scoring night.

With the Patriot League title already in hand, Starr still stressed the importance of learning from these final regular season games as the intensity of the playoffs inches closer.

“A game like [Tuesday night] really helps us to prepare to ultimately win a tough match like this,” said Starr. “Particularly towards the end, where [Harvard] got the momentum, they got that second goal, I think we weren’t taking care of the ball as well as we need to. That’s something we need to be better at in a really heated match like this.”

The Terriers wrap up the regular season at home on Saturday, Oct. 28 against the 8-8 Bison of Bucknell. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on New Balance Field.

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