Women’s Lacrosse: Terrier offense struggles against Army

By Joe Eachus

The Boston University women’s lacrosse team struggled in the freezing rain on Nickerson Field Saturday afternoon, falling to Army West Point, 13-7.

The Terriers’ (0-7, 0-1 PL) offense struggled against Army (6-2, 1-0 PL), managing just 15 total shots on goal and committing 25 turnovers.

“For us, I think we’re still struggling with some of the same things. It’s really taking care of the ball… we’re getting a lot of possessions, but offensively we need to be able to shoot better,” BU head coach Lauren Morton said. “Until we can get under 20 turnovers, our taking care of the ball has got to be better.”

BU shot 28 percent in the game, well below their season average of 40.9 percent.

Junior attack/midfielder Jen Barry was once again dominant on draws, controlling nine and helping the Terriers win the draw control battle 19-5. Freshman attack Matty Spaeth equalled her career high with four goals, and freshman midfielder Kaylee Munster notched her first collegiate goal in the losing effort.

“[Jen] forces everyone to have to prepare for her [on the draw], and it gives us more chances than we usually have. She does such a good job, she prepares so well. We just need to turn that into offensive production,” Morton said.

For Army, junior attack Kathleen Sullivan led the way with five goals and two assists.

“She does a great job, and does her role incredibly well,” Morton said of Sullivan’s performance. “I think that’s definitely something we knew coming in, and that’s where defensively we’ve talked about not getting scored on in the ways we know they’re going to score.

Spaeth opened up the scoring with a woman-up, free-position goal four minutes into the first quarter. Army answered with two goals of their own, but the first frame came to a close with the teams tied at three goals apiece.

BU would be shut out in the second quarter behind stellar goalkeeping from Army’s Lacey Bartholomay, allowing the Black Knights to head to the locker rooms at halftime with a comfortable four-goal lead.

Army continued to build their lead, notching three goals in each of the remaining quarters, while BU managed four total as their offense stagnated.

“Obviously, missing Lauren Kaye today hurt us, so I think that we need to get a consistent lineup, and we need to play team offense. [Spaeth] has created a lot for us, but we need more threats, and take better care of the ball,” Morton noted.

BU will seek out their first win of the season next Saturday against 1-6 Colgate, with opening draw scheduled for 12 p.m.