BOSTON - Freshman Timothy Shannehan set new career highs with five goals and seven points to help lead the Boston University men's lacrosse team to a 15-7 victory over Air Force on Saturday afternoon at Nickerson Field.

BU improved to 4-0 with a balanced scoring attack, highlighted by Shannehan's five-goal, two-assist effort. Freshman Mike Rooney scored a career-best four goals out of the midfield while senior Jimmy O'Connell added four points (1g, 3a) and junior Jimmy Kohr had two goals and one assist. Graduate student James Corcoran, junior Tommy Garofalo and freshman Andrew Pape also found the back of the net while senior Zach Travaglini had a pair of assists and sophomore Tyler Fox chipped in a helper.

The Terriers once again shined on the defensive end, with senior Will Barnes stopping 11 shots and perhaps making the play of the game when he intercepted a pass and then pushed the ball ahead to Kohr for a goal, earning an assist in the process. Barnes finished with two of the Terriers 12 caused turnovers, with sophomore Donald Varnerin responsible for a career-high three in addition to picking up a career-high five ground balls. Juniors Matt Freeman and Connor Kehm each had two caused turnovers, with Kehm adding five ground balls and Freeman collecting three ground balls. Sophomore Logan Styles notched one caused turnover and one ground ball as part of the starting close defense unit.

Senior Matthew Fritz won eight faceoffs and picked up seven ground balls, freshman Madden Murphy went 4-for-7 with two ground balls and freshman Daine Kostes won his only faceoff attempt of the day. Fritz was particularly strong in the third quarter, as he went 5-for-7 with four ground balls to help BU outscore Air Force, 5-1, and pull away for good.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• BU trailed for the first time this season after allowing its first opening-quarter goal of the year when Wes Peene found the back of the net with 9:10 on the clock.
• Pape tied the game with 5:52 left in the frame during the Terriers' first EMO of the game.
• Shannehan then gave BU the lead with 4:01 to go off a feed from Kohr.
• Rooney's first goal of the day came just 14 seconds into the second quarter. After BU won the opening faceoff of the frame, Travaglini took a defender with him down the left alley before dropping the ball back to Rooney, whose defender didn't close in time and allowed Rooney time to uncork a shot past Jake Marek (9 saves).
• Ryan Stadelmaier brought Air Force back within one at 3-2, but O'Connell connected with Shannehan on an EMO to make it 4-2 with 10:07 on the clock.
• The Terriers added two more goals in a span of 1:03, starting when Kohr dodged past his defender before switching hands and beating Marek high. Rooney then ripped home another long-range shot to make it 6-2.
• Josh Yago got a goal back for the Falcons to create a 6-3 halftime score.
• O'Connell opened the third quarter at 11:44 before Barnes came up with his highlight-reel play. With the Terriers in their 10-man ride, Barnes raced to the top of his box and intercepted a pass before outletting the ball to Kohr, who eventually scored his second goal of the day.
• Caelan Driggs made it a four-goal game again before back-to-back Shannehan goals extended the lead to 10-4.
• Rooney's third goal of the afternoon on an EMO with 40 seconds to play in the quarter extended the lead to 11-4.
• Driggs scored a man-up goal of his own to cut the deficit to 11-5, but a terrific individual effort by Corcoran made it 12-5 less than a minute later.
• Corcoran drew a flag as he scored and BU made Air Force pay when Rooney completed his four-goal day.
• The teams traded goals to close out the afternoon, with Shannehan and Garofalo finding the back of the net for BU in the final minutes.

GAME NOTES

• BU is 4-0 for the first time since starting 6-0 in 2022.
• The Terriers went 4-for-4 on man-up chances against Air Force.
• Ten of the Terriers' 15 goals were assisted.
• The Terriers finished February allowing just 6.75 goals per game.
• Shannehan became the first Terrier to reach 20 points this season after his seven-point outing.
• He has totaled 11 goals and nine assists this year.
• Kohr leads BU with 13 goals while O'Connell is tied with Shannehan for the team lead in assists.
• Freeman and Kehm remain tied for the team lead in caused turnovers (11) while Freeman is just ahead of Kehm with 16 ground balls, one clear of his classmate.

UP NEXT

• BU will open Patriot League play on Saturday, March 1, when the Terriers travel to Navy.
• Game time is scheduled for 12 p.m.