NCAA Rewind: BU's Entertaining Brand of Lacrosse Delivered Thrills

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2025 — look out for our NCAA Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings later this summer — our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking a last look at the 2024 college lacrosse season.

To do that, we’re taking a journey through 30 of the top teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse to see what went right, what went wrong and how we should feel about the season.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

USA Lacrosse preseason/final ranking: 18th/also considered
2024 record: 10-7 (5-3 Patriot League)

What went right: The attack was exceptional, with Louis Perfetto (45 G, 48 A), Vince D’Alto (41 G, 33 A) and Brenden Kelly (43 G, 6 A) giving the Terriers the only set of three 40-goal scorers in the country. Boston University had Army’s number, dealing the Black Knights their first loss in late March and then ousting the Patriot League’s top seed from the conference semifinals. Long pole Roy Meyer and defenseman Patrick Morrison were anchors at the defensive end, and a late surge of three consecutive one-goal victories (including a wild comeback at Colgate on the last day of the regular season) got Boston University into the Patriot final.

What went wrong: The Terriers were wobbly in the season’s early stages before fully recommitting to their identity as a team that embraces the 10-man ride. That’s a calculated risk, and while it often paid off for a veteran team, sometimes it didn’t. Boston University’s last seven games were decided by a combined eight goals, including three in overtime. Play enough of those, and eventually the bounces don’t go your way — as the Terriers found out in an 11-10 loss to a tough Lehigh bunch in the Patriot final.

Season highlight: The regular-season defeat of Army, which came at a time some people were arguing the Black Knights were the best team in the country.  The Terriers scored the first four goals, never trailed and held Army to 19.6-percent shooting in a 14-9 victory.

Verdict: Boston University held onto a large group of graduate students for a fifth season, and it seemed like if it could solve an experienced Army team, it would have a chance to go to the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years. It did figure out Army and it did have a chance to extend its season on Selection Sunday before its loss in the Patriot final. It wasn’t a bad season by any means, but it still probably feels like a missed opportunity for the Terriers.