HAMILTON, N.Y. - Paced by sophomore
Caroline O'Brien's hat trick, the Boston University field hockey team earned a 6-2 road win over Colgate on Friday afternoon at Tyler's Field.
O'Brien opened the scoring in the 18th minute to give the Terriers a lead they would not relinquish. Freshman
Nicole Lauro scored a pair of goals, junior
Payton Anderson also found the back of the cage and senior
Pili Alvarez assisted on O'Brien's final two goals.
With the win, BU improves to 8-7 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Colgate moves to 3-11 with an 0-5 league record.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Colgate had the better of the play in the early stages as the Terriers had to defend three corners in a four-minute span during what would be a scoreless first quarter.
- BU opened the scoring in the 18th minute on a well-executed play up the left side of the field as senior Rachel Borzymowski put a pass through midfield up to sophomore Megan Wetzel, who dribbled the ball to the dotted line before pushing it to classmate Amalia Preece.
- Preece received the ball and slid a pass to O'Brien, who was wide open in front of the cage, and she redirected into the netting for 1-0 lead.
- Just over six minutes later, Lauro collected a perfectly placed through ball from senior Brooklyn Lamb and got ahead of the defense before maneuvering around Colgate goalkeeper Claire van Kempen to the left side and taking her time to fire an accurate shot to the boards to make it a 2-0 lead for the visitors.
- The Raiders got on the board before halftime as Anna Lochhead tipped in a shot off a corner at the 26:34 mark to cut BU's lead to 2-1.
- The Terriers regained a two-goal lead just 1:11 into the second half off a midfield restart as Alvarez collected a pass just outside the right side circle and snuck it past a defender to O'Brien, who found the far boards for her second goal of the day.
- BU increased the margin to three goals at the 38-minute mark when Anderson drilled a corner shot past van Kempen off assists from Borzymowski and Thalia Steenssens.
- Lochhead notched her second goal of the game at 44:31 off a pass in the circle from Dani Palmer to get the Raiders back within two at 4-2.
- O'Brien capped her hat trick with 11:40 play as a hustle play by Alvarez forced a turnover and she popped the ball across the circle to O'Brien, who scored with a hard, high shot.
- Lauro put the finishing touches on the win with an impressive effort, spinning around after entering the circle before launching a reverse-stick drive to the center boards with 6:11 to play.
GAME NOTES
- Senior Kate Thomason earned the win in goal with a three-save performance.
- BU outshot Colgate, 16-9, including an 11-2 margin after halftime.
- The Raiders got a six-save effort from Claire van Kempen.
- The Terriers earned 10 corners in the contest and did not give up any in the second half after the Raiders held a 7-4 edge in the opening half.
- Lamb's assist on Lauro's first goal was the first point of her collegiate career.
- Steenssens became the eighth player in Division I to reach double-digit assists this season.
UP NEXT
- The Terriers will close out their non-conference schedule on Sunday (Oct. 22) when they visit No. 17 Cornell.
- Game time in Ithaca is set for 2 p.m.