After beginning their first road trip of the season with a tie at Clarkson University on Friday, the No. 4 Boston University women’s hockey team redeemed themselves with a 3-2 victory over St. Lawrence University.
BU (5-1-1) began the Clarkson (3-1-3) game strong with a first-period goal from junior forward Taylor Holze, her first of the season. Senior forward Jenn Wakefield earned her fifth assist of the season, which ties her for the team lead in assists and expands her lead in points.
Clarkson answered though, scoring a goal in each of the second and third periods to take the 2-1 lead.
But freshman forward Kayla Tutino would not let her team lose, as she made a great individual effort to tie the game at two with less than six minutes remaining. The Terriers had some good chances in overtime, but to no avail as the game ended 2-2.
“It was a good road point for us, particularly with the late comeback,” said BU coach Brian Durocher.
Sophomore goaltender Kerrin Sperry made 32 saves for the Terriers and kept the deficit at one until Tutino scored the game-tying goal.
Following the tie, the Terriers traveled to St. Lawrence (3-1-2) where the team scored the first three goals in their 3-2 win. Sperry had another impressive game, making 36 saves en route to securing her third win of the season.
“[Sperry] had a fantastic weekend,” Durocher said. “I think you would be hard-pressed to say that anybody is more competitive than she is. It is great to have that position, which is clearly the most important position, to have somebody that prepares and that is competitive.”
Tutino opened up the game’s scoring with her sixth goal of the season. Then in the second period junior forward Shannon Mahoney scored her first goal of the season, which was soon followed by the eighth goal of the season for Wakefield. Despite two late goals for St. Lawrence, the Terriers were able to hold on for their fifth win of the season.
“I look at the weekend and say, ‘We could have walked out of there with zero points but we came up with three,’” Durocher said. “There is a lot of character, poise and perseverance down the stretch in both games to come away with three points.”
The most productive player for the Terriers over the weekend was Tutino, scoring two goals and tallying one assist. The winger is coming off a week in which she won Hockey East Rookie of the Week and scored five goals in the past three games.
These past two games were the first road games of the season for the Terriers, who played all of their first five games at Walter Brown Arena.
“You play half the games on the road, [so] you have got to be a good road team,” Durocher said. “Last year we were and thankfully we have started the season in pretty good fashion this year.”
While the Terriers only had five power plays over the entire weekend, they were unable to capitalize on any of them. Before this weekend, the Terriers had scored a power play goal in all but one game.
“Special teams are a big part of the game,” Durocher said. “It is one of those nuances of ice hockey that when you get a five-on-four advantage and you move the puck around and you get the puck to the net, it can be a real positive.”
Coming up next for the Terriers are back-to-back contests at University of Wisconsin. BU fell to the Badgers last season in the national championship game, and will be facing off with them for the first time since.
Things won’t be getting any easier for the Terriers after their road trip to Wisconsin, as BU will be making the short trip to rival Boston College to begin a home-and-home series. However, Durocher is only focused on the one game ahead of him.
“[We will prepare for them] one at a time,” Durocher said. “That is not a cliché that is just the way we have to take care of business.”
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