Coming off a dominating 4-0 win against the University of Vermont, the Boston University women’s hockey team will play a home-and-home this Saturday and Sunday against Providence College.
BU (3-3-4, 2-2-1 HE) will play its first game at Agganis Arena this season Saturday at 2 p.m.
After two competitive outings against the No. 3 University of New Hampshire, which resulted in a tie and a loss, the Terriers are looking to build on the momentum they had from Wednesday night’s victory against
Vermont.
Providence (3-4-5, 2-1-3) is in the midst of a seven-game winless streak, which includes four ties and three losses. During that stretch, one of the Friars losses was at the hands of BU. Led by two goals, including the game-winner, from sophomore Jenelle Kohanchuk, and behind junior Melissa Haber’s 24 saves, the Terriers escaped with a tight 3-1 victory.
‘We got a goal with six minutes left and had they gotten the goal it probably would have been 3-1 for them with an open net,’ BU coach Brian Durocher said. ‘So I anticipate it’s going to come down to another one-goal game.’
In the past, Providence has been known for its aggressive and physical style of play. However, Durocher is pleased that tomorrow’s opponent no longer has the size and physicality that once caused matchup problems for his team.
‘They are a little bit different team than they have been in the past,’ Durocher said. ‘They’ve always been one of the more aggressive and physical teams because they had a big team. You know they were physical in the sense that they presented matchup problems and they had some talented kids that were part of their team.
‘I don’t think their team is nearly as big or physical as they’ve been. They still play very aggressively. They probably got a little more quickness but I like that matchup a little bit more than some of the kids who were really hard to deal with [due to their size and physicality].
The biggest struggle for the Terriers this season has been the penalty kill.
The unit ranks last in Hockey East with a 71.9 penalty-kill percentage, but did successfully kill all three of Vermont’s power plays in its last game.
Killing penalties, Durocher said, is much more than having one player clear the puck out of their zone.
‘I don’t think we were anticipating well the chances we had to clear it where you might need to get two or three people involved,’ he said. ‘We did a much better job there of anticipating and being in a spot where we might be able to help the initial person who has the puck and obviously some good results.’
It is important that the Terriers adjust their game plan to fit the dimensions of Agganis Arena.
‘Its five feet more width in that rink,’ Durocher said. ‘So there is a little bit more room. When you’re going outside maybe you talk to them about supporting the puck a little more out wide because you can get some cycles, you can get some misdirection going out on the offensive side, but all in all it is a pretty similar game there.’
On the other hand, they cannot be distracted by Agganis’ glitzy amenities.
‘We again really need to focus on what we’re doing and not get too mesmerized by that building,’ Durocher said. ‘It’s a first rate building. Bottom line is it is still a hockey game and we’re going to go out and do our thing.’
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