BU Field Hockey Heads into Patriot League Play Full of Confidence
Terriers will host American University Friday
Terriers celebrating their 1-0 win over Boston College September 14 at New Balance Field—their first time beating the Eagles in nine years.
BU Field Hockey Heads into Patriot League Play Full of Confidence
Terriers will host American University Friday
“Play the game, not the name” is a motto the Boston University field hockey team swears by—most of the time. Rival Boston College is the exception.
“Every single year it’s one of our goals to beat [BC],” cocaptain Celia Nocivelli (CAS’26) says.
That goal was met September 14. The Terriers beat the fourth-ranked Eagles for the first time since 2016. The 1-0 home win also marked the first time the program defeated a top-5 team since 2007.
Despite that victory, the 2025 campaign didn’t get off to the start the Terriers wanted—they lost the first three games before notching wins over Quinnipiac and BC in the span of just two days. Now, heading into Patriot League play on Friday, when they host American University, team members say they have the confidence they need.
“We were kind of down a little bit, but we’re a team that’s very resilient and we’re never going to give up,” Nocivelli says.
Despite the confidence boost, Sally Starr, now in her 45th season as head coach, recognizes that the Terriers still have much to learn as they shoot for the Patriot League title.
The team response: they’re up to the challenge.
“It means that every second of practice, every game, every lift we are getting better than we were the day before,” says Martu Coulo (Sargent’26). “We are always looking for growth. The goal is to leave each day better than we started it.”
Nocivelli and fellow cocaptain Maddie Hudson (Questrom’26) preach consistency to their teammates, but the two lead with different approaches.
Hudson is recovering from an ACL injury, and even though she’s not playing, she’s in command of the locker room. She’s in charge of the pregame speeches and knows just how to fire up the team. On the other hand, Starr says, Nocivelli is more the encouraging type. She leads by example, and no one works harder in practice. “Two unique captains for us,” the coach says, “but also two outstanding captains for us.”
The two captains “bring the perfect amount of seriousness and joy to the team. They always lift us up as a team and believe in all of us,” Coulo adds. “I can say that our team has never been this close before, and that is a reflection of their leadership.”
When it comes to improving every day, the team needs to take advantage of their speed, Starr says, and has to play more to the open side of the field.
The players have also struggled to stay consistent over the course of a 60-minute game, Nocivelli says, doubling down on why it’s such a major focus. The Terriers frequently come out hot in the first quarter, but tail off as the game progresses. “A big thing for us is starting on a front-foot mentality right from quarter one,” she adds, “and being consistent with that whole effort throughout the entire game and not losing any of that spark within the game.”
When it comes to why consistency has been a challenge, Nocivelli says that teams make so many tactical changes throughout the course of a game—and it’s about learning how to adapt to that. For example, in the September 4 loss to UMass, 4-0, the Minutewomen showed BU a structure they’d never seen before. It took the Terriers until the fourth quarter to understand how to position themselves defensively, she says.
Arguably BU’s biggest strength this season is its depth, Starr says, a departure from the past few seasons. And despite the team’s youth, she says, talent isn’t lacking. Underclassmen like Kaitlyn Williams (CAS’28), Caitlin Wong (COM’28), and Mallory Hudson (CAS’29) are playing key roles.
“I think that sometimes other teams, their bench might not be as strong as their starters, and you can capitalize on that,” Nocivelli adds. “But I think we’re such a great team because we have so much depth and everybody who steps out is such a great player.”
The Terriers also don’t lack confidence in one another. Starr says the team culture this season is outstanding and the team dynamic is like a family—but it doesn’t mean they aren’t competitive with one another.
“When we get to work, when we get to training sessions, the saying is, ‘Practice like you play.’ And then we flip that around to say, ‘Play like you practice,’” the coach says.
With that mindset, the Terriers believe that beating rival BC earlier this week is just the beginning and that they have a real shot at winning the Patriot League for the first time since 2018.
“It shows us, no matter the ranking, there’s nobody we can’t beat,” Nocivelli says. “It was exactly what the team needed.”
The Boston University field hockey Terriers host American University in their Patriot League home opener on Friday, September 19, at 4 pm, on New Balance Field. Admission is free. The game will be livestreamed on ESPN+.