The Boston University men's lacrosse team will host Lafayette in the first game of a doubleheader with the women's lacrosse team on Saturday at Nickerson Field. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. The game will be televised live on NESNplus in New England, with fans outside the region able to watch the game live on the Patriot League Network.
Fans in the eighth grade or below can receive free admission on Saturday. There will also be a free taco bar as well as a scarf giveaway.
The women's team will also face Lafayette, with that game scheduled for 4 p.m.
HISTORY WITH THE LEOPARDS
- BU is 5-0 all-time against the Leopards, including a pair of wins at Nickerson Field.
- The Terriers earned their first win in program history five years ago at Lafayette, earning a 12-7 victory on March 15, 2014.
- BU has outscored Lafayette, 72-36, all-time.
- Thirty-two of those goals came in the two home victories while the Terriers have held the Leopards to just 15 goals in Boston.
- Lafayette has never scored more than eight goals against BU.
LAST TIME AGAINST LAFAYETTE
- The Leopards led BU, 3-2, with 11:05 left in the second quarter, but the Terriers rattled off four straight goals to grab a 6-3 lead en route to a 12-8 triumph on March 24, 2018.
- Chris Gray recorded five points (2g, 3a) while James Burr notched two goals and one assist.
- Sean Christman went 14-of-23 at the faceoff X with seven ground balls.
- Joe McSorley made 13 saves and added three ground balls.
BEST OF BU AGAINST LAFAYETTE
- James Burr leads the Terriers with six goals and seven points against Lafayette.
- Chris Gray was terrific at Lafayette last year, recording five points (2g, 3a), two ground balls and one caused turnover.
- Michael Laviano (1g, 2a) and Brendan Homire (3g) both have three points apiece against the Leopards.
- Chase Levesque has also found the back of the net against Lafayette in addition to having collected two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
- Nicholas Ellerton and Drew Lukacs each have one caused turnover, with Ellerton adding a ground ball.
- Sean Christman went 14-of-23 last year at the faceoff X with seven ground balls.
- Thomas Schmidt collected a career-best five ground balls last year.
- Joe McSorley made 13 saves, gathered three ground balls and forced one turnover in the victory last year.
LOOKING AT THE LEOPARDS
- Lafayette started the season 4-1, but the Leopards have lost four straight games, including a 15-7 loss at Lehigh on Sunday.
- Conor Walters leads the team with 23 points thanks to 12 goals and a team-high 11 assists.
- Andrew Robbins has tallied a team-best 19 goals and is tied with Connar Dehnert (15g, 6a) for second on the squad at 21 points.
- Pat Tully leads the Leopards with 12 caused turnovers and is tied with faceoff specialist Chris Adamo for the team lead in ground balls at 30.
- Adamo is only 11-of-40 at the faceoff X; Gabe Smithline has gone 37-of-89 (.416) with 12 ground balls.
- Ryan Ness has started all nine games for Lafayette, posting an 11.11 goals-against average and a .471 save percentage.
GRAY IS AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
- No other Division I player has more points than sophomore Chris Gray, who has 56 points thanks to 23 goals and 33 assists.
- Those 33 assists ranks second in the NCAA.
- Gray has notched six points in each of the last two games (6g, 6a).
- He has not been held to fewer than five points in each of the last eight games and has collected at least four points in all nine tilts.
GRAY CONTINUES TO REWRITE RECORD BOOK
- Sophomore Chris Gray became the program's all-time assist leader last weekend in a 13-9 win over Bucknell, notching his 71st career assist in just his 25th career game
- Gray surpassed Cal Dearth ('17), who had notched 70 assists in four years.
- He also scored his 50th goal that day.
- Gray enters this weekend with 127 points on 54 goals and 73 assists.
INSIDE BURR'S BRILLIANT SEASON
- Senior James Burr is second in the Patriot League with 26 goals and he has added nine assists for 35 points in eight games.Â
- He has notched at least two goals in all nine contests.
- Burr has found the back of the net in 26 straight games, the third longest active streak in the country, and is the program's all-time leader in goals with 123.
- He has also notched a goal in 17 straight Patriot League games in a streak that started on April 8, 2017, at Army West Point.
- Burr is now second on the program's leaderboard with 157 career points, just 13 points shy of matching Cal Dearth's record of 170.
- In addition to his excellence on the field, Burr is a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award.
MAKING THEIR MAN-UP CHANCES COUNT
- The Terriers are second in the country and first in the Patriot League in man-up offense, converting on 53.6% of their opportunities this season.
- BU went 2-for-3 against Harvard.
- The Terriers have scored a man-up goal in each of the last seven games in which they earned an EMO.
DEFENSE CAUSING HAVOC
- The Terriers are first in the Patriot League and third in the country with an average of 11.89 caused turnovers per game.
- The Terriers recorded a season-high 18 caused turnovers against Harvard.
- BU has caused 31 turnovers over its last two games and has averaged 14.4 caused turnovers over its last five fixtures.
- The Terriers also boast a top-20 scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 9.56 goals per game.
- That mark ranks third in the conference and 16th in the NCAA.
ANOTHER THREE POINTS FOR HOMIRE
- For the seventh time in eight games, senior Brendan Homire notched three points in the Terriers' loss to Harvard.
- That came just three days after Homire collected a career-high four goals in the Terriers' 13-9 win over Bucknell.
- Homire has tallied 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points this year, in addition to gathering 21 ground balls and causing eight turnovers.
- He needs just three more points to match his career high of 26 that he achieved as a freshman in 2016.
- After three straight years of scoring nine goals, Homire has reached double digits this season with 11 goals.
ALWAYS HAPPY TO HELP
- BU leads the Patriot League and is second in the country with 74 assists this season.
- The Terriers are also first in the conference and 10th in the nation in assists per game at 8.22.
- They have assisted on 69.8% of their goals this season.
