Category: Sports
New Coach, New Attitude for Women’s Basketball
Marisa Moseley (CAS’04) was a defensive star and team captain who, in 2003, helped lead the Terriers to their only NCAA tournament appearance. Moseley, who coached with Geno Auriemma at UConn, is the first alumna to lead BU’s program. To her, excellence begins with instilling a sense of pride and meaning in everything the players do, no matter how trivial.
Albie O’Connell Named New Men’s Hockey Head Coach
Once a Terrier, always a Terrier. As an undergrad, O’Connell (CAS’99) had 108 career points and led his team in scoring as captain his senior year. He played in two Frozen Fours and won a Hockey East title. Considered one of the NCAA’s top recruiters as a coach, O’Connell returned to BU in 2014. During his tenure as associate head coach, BU finished as the national runner-up in 2015, collecting the Beanpot and Hockey East titles. The Terriers reached the NCAA quarterfinals in 2017 and 2018. O’Connell calls his promotion to head coach “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
BU Student and Alums Skate for Olympic Gold
BU student Jordan Greenway (CGS’17, CAS’19) joins alums Matt Gilroy (MET’09) and John McCarthy (CAS’09) representing Team USA in ice hockey at the PyeongChang Olympics in South Korea, along with Team USA assistant coach Scott Young (CAS’87, MET’18). Also skating for more Olympic gold as part of Team Canada are alums Jennifer Wakefield (CAS’12) and Marie-Philip Poulin (CAS’15). Poulin scored the gold medal–winning goals in both 2010 and 2014.
BU Athletic Hall of Fame Inducts Six
BU Athletics names six Terrier legends to the BU Athletic Hall of Fame: veteran distance-running coach Bruce Lehane, former Athletics administrator Dick Fecteau (SED’51), and four accomplished athletes, Bob Danville (MET’82), Matt Gilroy (MET’09), Robyn Kenney (CAS’02, GRS’07), and April Setterlund (Questrom’11). All of this year’s athletes earned All-America honors as Terriers.
Let Games Begin on New Balance Field
Over the summer, West Campus students watch a tired brick building and a parking lot transform into a 110,000-square-foot athletic field and state-of-the-art underground parking facility, made possible by a $3 million donation from Brighton-based shoe manufacturer New Balance. Returning students discover the bright green New Balance Field, which is dedicated by the Board of Trustees in a ceremony on September 19.
The new field essentially doubles BU’s playable green space and makes it possible to bring field hockey back to campus and to add men’s lacrosse to the roster of Terrier varsity teams, as well as to provide practice space for varsity teams and the more than 8,000 students who play intramural and club sports.
First Men’s Varsity Lacrosse Coach Named
Five months after announcing plans to establish a Division I varsity men’s lacrosse team, BU taps 11-year coaching veteran Ryan Polley as the new team’s head coach. Polley spent the last six seasons as an assistant coach at Yale. He helped the Bulldogs claim the 2012 Ivy League tournament title with wins over lacrosse powerhouses Princeton and Cornell, earning the team its first NCAA bid since 1992. BU currently has a club team, which plays in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association’s Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League, finishing this past season with a 2–10 record. Lacrosse was officially designated as a club sport in 1972.
New Sports League
The University accepts an invitation to join the Patriot League, beginning with the 2013–2014 academic year. BU will leave the America East conference, of which it was a founding member in 1979. The University will be the ninth full member of the Patriot League, which, like America East, is a Division I conference. Division I is the highest competitive level recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). “We are very impressed by the academic quality of the institutions in the Patriot League and by the league’s commitment to student athletics while effectively competing at the NCAA Division I level,” President Brown says.
BU Hockey Captures Every Tournament Crown
BU Hockey captures every crown possible—the Ice Breaker, the Denver Cup, the Beanpot, the Hockey East regular season and the Hockey East tournament—en route to the program's fifth national championship. Senior co-captain Matt Gilroy becomes the second Terrier to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college hockey's best player.
Nickerson Field, Home of the Boston Cannons
The Boston Cannons of the Professional Men’s Lacrosse League set up home at Boston University's Nickerson Field; they remain here for three seasons. In 2007, they move to Harvard Stadium.
Track & Tennis Center
In October, Boston University’s Track & Tennis Center opens, providing a new athletic and recreation facility for the Boston University community. The 83,000-square-foot facility is designed to be one of the best such facilities in the country. Some features include four tennis courts, a fixed-bank 200-meter track, a 1,500-person seating capacity, and premiere space to hold national competitions. The facility also houses BU’s Track & Field and Tennis teams and is a practice venue for other Terrier athletic teams and organizations.
