#14 Boston University (0-0, 0-0 PL) at Vermont (0-1, 0-0 America East)
Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 11 | 12 p.m.
Venue: Virtue Field | Burlington, Vt.
Twitter: @BUGameDay | @TerrierMLAX

The No. 14 Boston University men's lacrosse team will open its 10th season on Saturday when the reigning Patriot League champion travels to Vermont to face the Catamounts. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 12 p.m., with the game to be streamed for free on America East TV.

TERRIER TIDBITS

• For the first time ever, BU enters the season as the favorite to win the Patriot League after its record-setting 2022 season which saw the Terriers claim the conference's regular-season and tournament titles en route to the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Terriers boast the league's preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in seniors Vince D'Alto and Roy Meyer, who were named to the Tewaaraton Watch List on Friday.
• In addition, graduate student Matt Garber was selected as the league's preseason Goalkeeper of the Year.
• All three standouts were All-Americans in 2022 and garnered preseason All-America accolades as well.
• A program-record six Terriers were voted to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team, as D'Alto, Garber and Meyer were joined on the squad by graduate midfielder Jake Cates, graduate attackman Timmy Ley and senior defender Patrick Morrison.
• For just the second time in 10 seasons, the Terriers will begin the year in the top 20 of both major national preseason polls, checking in at No. 14 in both the Inside Lacrosse media poll and the USILA coaches poll.
• That is the highest preseason ranking BU has ever achieved, with the Terriers getting as high as No. 12 in the nation during last season's historic run.
• The Terriers return at least one starter at every position this season.
• That includes the most prolific attack unit in the country, as D'Alto, Ley and senior Louis Perfetto are back after leading the NCAA with a combined 214 points.
• BU was the only school in the country last year that has three attackers with at least 30 goals and 30 assists.

HISTORY WITH VERMONT

• BU and Vermont have met three times, most recently in 2019 when the Terriers earned a 12-4 win over the Catamounts at Nickerson Field.
• The teams split the first two tilts between one another, with UVM defeating BU, 13-9, in the Terriers' inaugural season before BU secured a 15-7 win in Burlington on Feb. 28, 2015.
• Jake Cates (2g,) and Jett Dziama (1g, 1a) each had two points in the 2019 victory, with Matt Hilburn (1g) and Timmy Ley (1a) adding a point apiece.

SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS

• Vermont, the reigning America East champion opened its season last weekend with a hard-fought 7-5 loss at Syracuse.
• UVM entered the final quarter tied at 5-5 with the Orange, but Syracuse scored twice in the final frame.
• Graduate student Matt Shaffer made 16 saves in his first collegiate start.
• Junior Jonas Hunter led the Catamounts with two goals while graduate student David Closterman chipped in a goal and an assist to match Hunter with two points.
• Senior Tommy Burke went 9-for-16 at the faceoff X and picked up seven ground balls.
• The Catamounts followed their second straight conference title with a victory over Manhattan in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual champion Maryland.