Vermont Defeats B. U. In Strokeoff
October 25, 2002 | Field Hockey
BURLINGTON, Vt. - The University of Vermont field hockey team defeated Boston University, 2-1, on Friday, Oct. 25, ending two decades of domination by the Terriers. After two overtime periods did not provide the decisive goal, the game was decided in a penalty strokeoff, which the Catamounts won after tallying two goals to B. U.'s one.
It was the first game of the season that B. U. played on grass - and the first game it had played on the surface in over two seasons.
It had been almost exactly 20 years since Vermont (6-11, 2-2 America East) had beaten B. U. in field hockey. It was Oct. 28, 1982 when the Catamounts defeated the Terriers, 1-0, in the teams' first ever meeting. Since then, the two teams had played 21 games, with the Terriers holding a 20-0-1 lead.
The Catamounts broke out of the gates early, taking a 1-0 lead just 1:26 into the game, as senior Kristen MacDonald scored on an assist from senior Shawn Carney.
B. U. tied the game at 1-1 with a goal from junior midfielder Dalinda Banuelos (Escondido, Calif.) off a broken penalty corner 5:23 into the second half.
Neither team could score the go-ahead goal in regulation. B. U. had the upper hand in the two overtime periods with a 5-2 advantage in shots, but the Terriers could not secure the game-winning score.
In the penalty strokeoff, the first of the season for the Terriers, junior Molly Sheehan scored on the Catamounts' first chance, and junior forward Celeste Hubbard (Detroit, Mich.) missed her attempt. MacDonald connected on UVM's second shot, while sophomore forward Kara Rossi (North Salem, N. Y.) made her try. None of the remaining six attempts were successful, and the Catamounts escaped with a 2-1 edge in penalty strokes, which counted as one goal on the final score.
Catamount senior goalkeeper Holly Colberg was instrumental in the win, as she stopped each of the Terriers' last three penalty stroke attempts and made four saves. B. U. senior goalkeeper Susan Harrington (Tuftonboro, N. H.) stopped three of the five penalty stroke attempts, and made four saves in defeat.
With the win, Vermont moves ahead of B. U. into the all-important fourth place spot in the America East standings. The top four teams advance into the America East Championship, held Nov. 8 and 10 at the school with the highest seed. The Terriers haven't failed to make the Championship in any of the 13 years it has existed.
Boston University (10-7, 1-2 America East) travels to Albany on Sunday, Oct. 27 for a game against the University at Albany Great Danes at 1 p.m.
| SCORE BY PERIOD | 1st | 2nd | OT | OT | PS | F |
| # 16 B. U. (10-7, 1-2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Vermont (6-11, 2-1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
SCORING SUMMARY First Half: UVM Kristen MacDonald (Shawn Carney), 1:26. Second Half: BU Dalinda Banuelos (Whitney Peabody), 40:23. Penalty Strokeoff: BU made: Kara Rossi, BU missed: Celeste Hubbard, Dalinda Banuelos, Whitney Peabody, Meredith Long; UVM made: Molly Sheehan, MacDonald, UVM missed: Stephanie Shield, Katie Henry, Shanon Strenkert. Shots: BU 13; UVM 8. Penalty Corners: BU 10; UVM 10. Goalkeeper Saves: BU 4 (Susan Harrington 4); UVM 4 (Holly Colberg 4).
