W
hen you sit down with Ryan Polley, head coach of the Boston University men’s lacrosse team, “evolution” is a buzzword that often surfaces.
It’s an apt descriptor, too, for a program that finished 2-12 in its inaugural NCAA season in 2014, then 6-8 in 2015 and 8-7 in 2016. Add in myriad other layers – a new turf surface on Nickerson Field, the Terriers’ own locker room and program-defining wins over the likes of Colgate, Bucknell, Harvard and Navy – and the trend becomes all the more evident.
BU is surging upwards in the college lacrosse world, and the question begs answering: Will 2017 mark when the Terriers finally emerge as a serious contender in the Patriot League?
“I remember our first day back during preseason, we had a meeting in the locker room and Coach Polley was talking about how we're going to get over this hump, how are we going to change what's happened to us the past three years,” junior attackman Jack Wilson said. “It all comes down to the fact that we have four classes, so we're following the lead of our seniors. That's been our focus.”
As Wilson alluded to, there’s a lot to unpack ahead of BU’s fourth season, which gets underway Saturday at Providence. This is the same point at which Marquette enjoyed its breakthrough season, winning the 2016 Big East championship and hosting North Carolina in the NCAA tournament. But there are hurdles.
For one, the Terriers have yet to make the Patriot League tournament, with their hopes crushed against Holy Cross in their final conference game each of the last two seasons. Last year, the Terriers started 8-2 and were nationally ranked before losing their final five games.
The lesson learned from those experiences, Polley said, is simple: Consistency is a must.
Christian Carson-Banister, a senior and BU’s likely starting goalie, agreed, pointing to how the Terriers at long last boast four recruiting classes. In the early days, it was often freshmen and sophomores taking on All-Americans, and the experience just wasn’t there. When injuries came about, he added, they proved fatal, even in simply having enough bodies for practice.
“Sometimes we couldn't even do two sides efficiently,” Carson-Banister said. “Now I’m looking over and the other side is going at a fast tempo and we’re going at a great tempo, too. That’s a really special moment for this program to finally have that depth.”