The men’s lacrosse team celebrating one of the goals in their 18-8 victory over the University of Vermont February 10. Photo by Matt Woolverton

Varsity Sports

BU Men’s Lacrosse Plays Patriot League Home Opener Saturday against Navy

Bolstered by an experienced roster, Terriers launch conference play

In their first 10 years of Division One competition, the Boston University men’s lacrosse team built a conference contender from scratch, winning their first-ever Patriot League title in 2022 and finishing the last two seasons, at 7-1, atop the league’s regular season standings. As they enter their second decade of Patriot League play, the Terriers are looking to build on their success, buoyed by an experienced roster and a determination to win another conference championship. 

Over the last two seasons, BU has paced the Patriot League in scoring offense. The Terriers led in 2022 with 15.13 goals per game, and defended the following season with a 14.13 AVG/G. Despite that, they fell to Loyola-Maryland in the 2023 PL semifinal 12-11 at Nickerson Field last spring. 

BU head coach Ryan Polley says that this season, their goal is making every practice count. “Our focus is to stick to our process,” Polley says. “And our process has been to string good practices together on a weekly basis; each drill is important, each time that we’re together, whether it’s a lift, a film session, or a practice, we’re focusing on that individual session.”

The Terriers roster has the 24 players remaining from the 2022 championship team, including 8 graduate students returning to play another season. Among them is Patrick Morrison (COM’23, SHA’24). 

“I was super pumped to come back,” Morrison says. “My love for the school—this has been my home for the past five years and there’s no other place or college or university that I’d rather be. And I think another part of why I wanted to come back was that last year’s ending kind of left a sour taste in my mouth. And I really just wanted to end my college career on a high note, and hopefully I’ll do that. Winning a Patriot League championship is something special, and we really want to take that next step as a program and make some noise in the NCAA.”

Although many familiar names are pacing Nickerson Field, BU entered this season tasked with filling a major void in the roster—replacing graduate student and 2022 Patriot League Goaltender of the year Matt Garber (MET’24). In his stead, Will Barnes (CAS’25, COM’25) has started each game. Barnes is among the league leaders in save percentage (.574) and goals against average (10.27) for goalies who have at least four games.

“Will saw what it takes to be a top-level goalie and certainly has performed really well in his first four games,” Polley says. “He has been tremendous this year, but I think we knew we had a good one in Will and it was just a matter of time until he got his opportunity.” 

BU was tabbed to finish second in the Patriot League preseason awards, behind Army West Point. Three BU grad students—Vince D’Alto (COM’23, SHA’24) (attack), Morrison (defense), and Roy Meyer (Questrom’23,’27) (long stick midfielder)—were selected to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team. The trio was also named USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason All-Americans, and Meyer and Morrison were selected by Inside Lacrosse magazine as Preseason All-Americans. 

The 2024 Season

The Terriers launch their Patriot League season Saturday in their home opener against Navy on a strong note: they are 3-1 so far this season, with wins over nonconference teams St. Joseph’s (14-10), the University of Vermont (18-8), and Brown (16-10). BU’s sole loss came at the hands of Bryant, 12-6, on February 16. 

“Obviously that Bryant game was pretty tough, and I think we’ve learned a lot from it,” Morrison says. “And we’re going to learn from that loss moving into Patriot League play, and that’s a good segue into Navy coming up. Navy’s always a fun game. They beat us last year and I think all of us kind of are looking at it as an opportunity for revenge. We’re just making sure that we’re starting off on the right foot in Patriot League play and trying to put a good product out on the field, especially in front of our alumni.” (Saturday’s home-opener is also Alumni Weekend for the men’s lacrosse program.)

BU’s 10-8 loss to Navy last year marked the sole regular season loss last season. Navy continues to be a formidable opponent, Polley says. 

“We’re focused on this year’s BU team and this year’s Navy team and what it’s going to take to win that game,” the coach says. “Navy has an unbelievable and storied program, and this year’s version is very similar to the majority—they have a ton of talent.” 

After their home opener, the Terriers host Bucknell March 9, then head to Baltimore to face Loyola-Maryland. They’ll then return home to host defending-champion Army at Nickerson Field on March 22. BU then plays two nonconference opponents, lacrosse powerhouses Duke March 27 and Yale April 9 (and in between, on March 30, PL opponent Holy Cross). BU will be seeking its first-ever win against both Duke and Yale. The Terriers are 0-5 all-time against Duke’s Blue Devils and 0-2 against Yale’s Bulldogs. BU will close out the regular PL season with matchups against Lafayette, Lehigh, and Colgate. 

“We’re excited to go out there and play in front of our alums, but our focus has just been on Navy—playing four good quarters, but more important, having five good days of practice and getting prepared for a really hard test on Saturday,” Polley says.

The BU men’s lacrosse team kicks off Patriot League play Saturday, March 2, at 1 pm, on Nickerson Field against the United States Naval Academy. Admission is free for students with a Sports Pass, $5 for other members of the BU community, and $8 for general admission—purchase here. All Patriot League games can be streamed live on ESPN+.