June 17, 2009

2009 Schedule

BOSTON - Highlighted by contests against seven schools that qualified for the 2008 NCAA tournament, the Boston University field hockey program and head coach Sally Starr have announced the team's 2009 schedule. The Terriers, who will host six opponents at Jack Barry Field this fall, will open the 2009 campaign in Evanston, Ill., on Aug. 28-29 with contests against Northwestern and defending national champion Maryland.

After preseason scrimmages against Providence (Aug. 23) and the University of Victoria (Aug. 25), BU's regular season will consist of 19 games, including five in America East play. The Terriers, who are the first opponent of the season for Maryland, will take on another 2008 NCAA semifinalist the following week when they face Iowa before facing five other NCAA squads later in the year in Virginia, Duke, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Albany.

"This year's schedule will be very challenging and will give us outstanding preparation for both our conference games and postseason play," said Starr. "We have a great opening weekend at Northwestern and we will be facing perennially strong NCAA tournament teams all season long."

After the opening weekend in Illinois, the Terriers will play consecutive games in Amherst, Mass., to take on a pair of reigning conference champions. BU faces UMass - the 2008 Atlantic-10 champion - on Sept. 4 before returning two days later to take on Big Ten champion Iowa in a neutral-site contest. The Hawkeyes bowed out to the Terrapins in double overtime in last year's final four.

The home opener will take place on Saturday, Sept. 12, against cross-town rival Boston College. The Terriers will take on another city rival the following day when they visit Northeastern. The following weekend, BU will play host to Sacred Heart on Sept. 19 before traveling to face Dartmouth on Sept 20.

The Terriers will close out September by heading south to take on Virginia (Sept. 25) and Old Dominion (Sept. 27). The Terriers upset the Cavaliers for the third straight year last season, while the Lady Monarchs missed out on the NCAA tournament for the first time ever in 2008.

The Terriers will play four other non-league contests, including mid-week road contests against Harvard and UConn on Oct. 14 and 21, respectively. BU will battle Duke at BC on Oct. 4 and close out its non-conference slate at home against Providence on Oct. 30.

Three of the Terriers' five conference games will take place at home, as both teams that competed in last year's America East title game (Albany, New Hampshire) and Vermont will all visit Jack Barry Field. The game against Catamounts on Oct. 3 will be BU's league opener, while the Wildcats will come to Boston on Oct. 17 and the Great Danes - the defending league champions - will make the trip on Oct. 24.

BU's first road contest in conference play will take place on Oct. 10 at Fairfield. The Terriers will wrap up their regular season on Nov. 1 at Maine.