The Boston University men's lacrosse team will host No. 2 Loyola Maryland on Saturday at Nickerson Field. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.
There will be a DJ, free barbeque for fans as well as a 21+ cash bar. In addition, there will be a fanny pack giveaway.
IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME
- The Terriers are 5-1 at home this season.
- They have averaged 13.67 goals per game in those six contests while only allowing an average of 8.5 goals per game at Nickerson Field.
LAST TIME AGAINST LOYOLA
- BU held a 7-6 halftime lead thanks to Chase Levesque's transition goal with four seconds to play in the second quarter, but the Terriers eventually fell to No. 6 Loyola, 13-8, in a Patriot League semifinal contest in Baltimore.
- James Burr notched four goals while Chris Gray added a goal and two assists.
- Sean Christman went 18-for-25 at the faceoff X with eight ground balls.
- Levesque added three ground balls.
- Joe McSorley made 13 saves.
BEST OF BU AGAINST THE GREYHOUNDS
- James Burr has notched 11 goals and one assist in four contests against Loyola.
- Chris Gray has three goals and three assists for six points in two tilts.
- Chase Levesque has collected seven ground balls in addition to his goal in last year's semifinal.
- Quintin Germain has gathered six ground balls and added a caused turnover against Loyola.
- Brendan Homire has scored two goals and picked up four ground balls.
- Sean Christman is 30-of-47 against the Hounds at the faceoff X and has picked up 11 ground balls in those two games.
- Michael Laviano scored a goal in the 2017 victory.
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
- Loyola is the No. 2 team in the nation in both major national polls and has won five straight games, including a 16-14 home triumph over Georgetown on Tuesday.
- Senior Pat Spencer leads the NCAA with 82 points, is second in the country with 46 assists and sixth in the nation with 36 goals.
- Sophomore Kevin Lindley is the nation's top goal scorer with 47 markers this year, including six against Georgetown.
- Loyola has the third-ranked offense in the nation at 15.09 goals per game.
- Sophomore Bailey Savio is facing off at just over 50% this season (156-of-308) and has recorded a team-high 88 ground balls.
- Junior Ryan McNulty leads the squad with 17 caused turnovers.
- Senior Jacob Stover has started all 11 games in the cage for Loyola, posting a 10.01 goals-against average and a .597 save percentage.
BU ONE OF JUST TWO TO CONTAIN SPENCER
- BU is one of only two teams to ever hold Pat Spencer to a single point in a game during his 62-game career.
- In the Terriers' 12-11 overtime victory over Loyola at Nickerson Field in 2017, Spencer was hounded all game by 2017 graduate Dominick Calisto and only recorded one assist.
- Ohio State is the only other school to keep Spencer from having a multi-point effort.
LOOKING BACK AT THE ARMY WIN
- BU erased an 8-4 halftime deficit to earn its first-ever win at Michie Stadium, a 15-13 triumph over No. 16 Army West Point on Saturday afternoon.
- The Terriers opened the third quarter with six straight goals and began the fourth quarter with four consecutive markers to break a 10-10 tie and take the lead for good.
- Freshman Jake Cates assisted on the strike that made it 11-10 before he added three straight unassisted goals to seal the win.
- Sophomore Chris Gray recorded six points (2g, 4a) while freshman Timmy Ley and senior James Burr each completed a hat trick.
- Junior Chase Levesque recorded the first two-goal game of his career in addition to scooping up three ground balls and causing one turnover.Â
- Freshman Jett Dziama found the back of the net while senior Michael Laviano, sophomore Michael Doxie and freshmen Matt Hilburn and Jack Collins all added one assist apiece.
- Sophomore Sean Christman went 22-of-32 at the faceoff X with nine ground balls.
- Freshman Will Carson led the Terriers with two caused turnovers in addition to his four ground balls.Â
- Junior Joe McSorley made nine saves in the cage.
GRAY IS AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
- Sophomore Chris Gray is second in the country with 76 points (31g, 45a).
- Those 45 assists rank third in the NCAA.
- Gray has notched 32 points in the last five games, including his third nine-point (3g, 6a) effort of 2019 against Lafayette on March 23.
- He has not been held to fewer than five points in each of the last 11 games and has collected at least four points in all 12 tilts.
GRAY KEEPS BREAKING RECORDS
- Sophomore Chris Gray broke his own single-season point record of 71 thanks to a six-point day at Army on Saturday.
- Gray enters the weekend with 76 points thanks to 31 goals and 45 assists.
- He broke his own single-season assist record with his 41st helper of the year on Saturday at Lehigh.
- Gray is the program's all-time leader in assists with 85, and he also has 62 goals for 147 career points
INSIDE BURR'S BRILLIANT SEASON
- Senior James Burr is third in the Patriot League and ninth in the NCAA with 35 goals, and he has added nine assists for 44 points.
- He has scored at least two goals in all 12 games this season.
- Burr has found the back of the net in 29 straight games, the longest active streak in the country, and is the program's all-time leader in goals with 132.
- He has also notched a goal in 20 straight conference games in a streak that started on April 8, 2017, at Army West Point.
- Burr is now second on the program's leaderboard with 166 career points, just four points shy of Cal Dearth's record (170).
- The Boston Cannons took Burr in the 2019 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft.
- In addition to his on-field excellence, Burr is a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award.
MAKING THEIR MAN-UP CHANCES COUNT
- The Terriers are third in the country and first in the Patriot League in man-up offense, converting on 57.1% of their opportunities this season.
- BU has scored a man-up goal in each of the last 10 games in which it has earned an EMO, including a 2-for-2 performance in the victory at Army West Point.
- The Terriers will be facing the fifth-ranked man-down defense in the NCAA on Saturday, as Loyola is stopping man-up units 77.1% of the time.
DEFENSE CAUSING HAVOC
- The Terriers are first in the Patriot League and third in the country with an average of 11.75 caused turnovers per game.
- They have 141 total caused turnovers, which leads the entire country.
- BU has caused 65 turnovers over its last four games, including 17 at Lehigh on March 30, and has averaged 13.25 caused turnovers over its last eight fixtures.
- The Terriers also boast a top-15 scoring defense in the nation, at 9.83 goals allowed per game, which ranks fourth in the PL and 15th in the NCAA.
ALWAYS HAPPY TO HELP
- BU is first in the Patriot League and fourth in the country with 101 assists this season.
- The Terriers are also second in the conference and eighth in the nation in assists per game at 8.42.
- They have assisted on 69.1% of their goals this season.
- Sophomore Chris Gray is responsible for 44.5% of the Terriers' assists and has factored on 52% of the team's goals.
CATES NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
- Freshman Jake Cates was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Monday.
- He recorded career highs in goals (4), assists (2) and points (6) during the Terriers' 15-13 win at Army West Point.
- Four of those six points came in the fourth quarter when he picked up a man-down assist and then scored three straight unassisted goals to break a 10-10 tie and give the Terriers a 14-10 lead.
- Cates extended his goal scoring streak to five games and has tallied eight goals in total during the last five tilts.
- He enters the weekend with 18 points thanks to 14 goals and four assists.
