Field Hockey: Terriers drop season finale to American
By Henry Dinh-Price
Boston University Field Hockey (8-9, 3-3 PL) fell 2-0 to the American University Eagles (9-7, 6-0 PL) in their regular-season finale on Saturday at New Balance Field.
The Terriers had their hands full against American, who capped off an undefeated Patriot League campaign in the regular season.
Despite the loss, BU will move on to next week’s Patriot League Tournament as the No. 3 seed.
The two sides remained scoreless in the first quarter, but the chance came for BU when it earned back-to-back penalty corners in the 13th minute.
On the second penalty corner, junior back Payton Anderson found open space and unleashed a shot on frame. Senior goalkeeper Bryn Underwood lay down in front of the net, and let the ball sail into her leg pads, keeping the game scoreless.
American got its first big opportunity in the 23rd minute when BU junior back Katie Devine was whistled for a foul in the shooting circle.
American was awarded a penalty stroke, putting graduate student Charllene Boshoff one-on-one against BU senior goalkeeper Kate Thomason from seven yards out. She unleashed a shot that Thomason could not catch up to, but it rattled off the right post and stayed out of the net.
The Eagles found their breakthrough moment four minutes later after earning their third penalty corner in a one-minute span. Graduate student forward Megan Hoffman passed the ball in from the corner to set up junior midfielder Tayla-Jade Weiss for a shot.
With the BU defense selling out on a shot from Weiss, Weiss passed it back to Hoffman who was left open at the left post. Upon receiving the pass from Weiss, Hoffman floated her shot above the outstretched Thomason and past the goal line to give American a 1-0 advantage.
With Hoffman’s goal just before halftime, American went into the halftime huddle up by one goal.
The momentum from the end of the second quarter carried into the beginning of the third for the Eagles, who put constant pressure on the Terriers to start the second half.
BU conceded a penalty corner within 30 seconds of the second half starting, and then conceded a penalty corner a minute later which put Thomason face to face with Boshoff from seven yards out once again. For the second time, Thomason came up victorious, coming up with a big save with her midsection blocker.
The onslaught of shots from the Eagles continued, however.
In the 33rd minute, a long run from freshman forward Emilia Winkler separated the American forwards from the BU defenders, leaving Thomason alone against three attackers. With options in the shooting circle, Winkler found junior midfielder Kaleigh Missimer open at the back post for a tap-in finish to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
The Terriers tried to search for answers in the remaining 27 minutes, but their efforts fell short. The best look came on BU’s only second half penalty corner in the 54th minute. Anderson ripped a shot through the American defense, but it rolled just wide of the left post.
The Eagles outshot the Terriers 16-10 (12-5 on goal) and outnumbered BU in penalty corners 7-4.
Thomason was relied on heavily for the Terriers, and despite the loss, was a bright spot for BU with 10 saves.
“I’m really happy for her to have the game she had,” coach Sally Starr said.
The Terriers will look to regroup before their Patriot League Semifinal matchup against No. 2 seed Lafayette on Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. in Washington, D.C. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.