Returning for a 14th year, GoTerriers.com will once again count down the top 12 achievements of Boston University teams and student-athletes from the previous year.
Coming in at No. 1 in this year's Terrier Twelve is the men's lacrosse team, which won its first-ever Patriot League regular-season and tournament titles en route to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
BU opened its ninth season with a perfect 6-0 record and entered the final three conference games, against the three preseason favorites to win the Patriot League title, with a 5-0 conference mark. The Terriers began that stretch on the road and defeated Loyola in Baltimore for the first time. They then traveled to Lehigh with a chance to clinch the regular-season trophy.
The Mountain Hawks tied the score at 8-8 with 1:04 to play, but junior Conor Calderone won the ensuing faceoff and the Terriers called timeout to set up the final possession. BU ran the clock down to the final eight seconds, before senior Matt Hilburn ran to X and dished the ball inside to senior Timmy Ley. Hilburn's co-captain caught the ball and then fired a spinning backhander into the cage for the game-winner with five seconds on the clock.
With that win, BU earned the right to host the Patriot League semifinals and championship for the first time. In a semifinal rematch with Lehigh, sophomore Tommy Bourque scored in overtime to give the Terriers a 13-12 victory. That set up a title-game showdown with Army West Point. BU never trailed in a convincing 14-10 win in front of a raucous crowd at Nickerson Field that included a great show of support from the program's varsity and club alumni. Junior Louis Perfetto was named Patriot League Tournament MVP after a nine-point weekend and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Ley, senior Matt Garber and junior Roy Meyer.
The Terriers traveled to fifth-seeded Princeton for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and, despite a valiant effort, ultimately fell to the eventual national semifinalist, 12-5. They finished the year with a 12-5 record, which matched the program's best mark from 2017, and posted a program-best 7-1 Patriot League record.
BU earned a host of national, conference and regional honors. Ninth-year head coach Ryan Polley was named Patriot League Coach of the Year for the second time and earned New England Division I Coach of the Year honors for a third time. Garber was chosen as the league's Goalkeeper of the Year while Meyer was selected as PL Defensive Player of the Year. Garber and Meyer were two of a program-record five First Team All-Patriot League standouts, as senior Jake Cates, junior Vince D'Alto and junior Patrick Morrison also earned that distinction. Ley and Calderone were Second Team All-PL selections.
On the national stage, Meyer was an Inside Lacrosse and a USILA First Team All-American while Garber and D'Alto were honorable mention All-Americans. Meyer was the best LSM in the nation in 2022, as he recorded 81 ground balls and led the nation with 58 caused turnovers, which was the second-most ever since 2010. Garber, Hilburn and Ley were named USILA Scholar All-Americans for their excellence on the field and in the classroom. As a team, BU led the NCAA in caused turnovers per game, boasted the third-best ride in the country and was fifth in the nation in ground balls per game.
Regionally, six Terriers - Calderone, Cates, D'Alto, Garber, Meyer and Morrison - earned All-New England honors while Cates and Meyer were All-ECAC selections. In addition, Garber, Hilburn, Ley, senior Matt Baugher and senior Jett Dziama were chosen to the Academic All-New England Team.
Original source can be found here.
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