After a dominating performance against No. 6 Boston College on Wednesday night, the No. 5 Boston University women’s hockey team faltered against the Eagles on Saturday as the Terriers felt the pressure of missing four key players from their lineup.
The Terriers (6-4-1, 1-1 Hockey East) split the home-and-home series, which constituted their first two games of Hockey East play, thanks to the 3-1 loss to the Eagles (6-3-1, 3-2-1 Hockey East) this weekend.
Missing from BU’s scorecard were senior forwards Jenn Wakefield and Jenelle Kohanchuk, senior defenseman Kasey Boucher and sophomore forward Marie-Philip Poulin.
While Wakefield, who reached the century mark with her 100th career goal against BC on Wednesday, missed the game because of her role representing Canada in the Four Nations Cup, Kohanchuk, Boucher and Poulin did not play because of injuries.
Despite the obvious problems the team would face missing three of it’s best forwards and a top defensemen, BU coach Brian Durocher was confident in whom he put on the ice.
“We were ready to go with the people that were here,” Durocher said.
The Terriers kept pace with the Eagles in the first frame of the contest despite BC outshooting BU 13-8.
In the first half of the second period, however, the Eagles opened up the game scoring three goals in just over ten minutes of play.
Just 2:31 into the period, BC star freshman Alex Carpenter gave the Eagles a 1-0 advantage when she picked up a rebound and slipped it past BU sophomore goaltender Kerrin Sperry. The tally was Carpenter’s team-leading seventh of the season.
“I don’t know if we ever got our feet back on the ground from what I think is maybe a poor line change,” Durocher said of the Eagle’s first marker. “Kids are tired, they get near the red line and they want to change but if that puck doesn’t go deep in the zone it’s hard to have two, three and four people changing and I think we did that in that situation.”
Four minutes later senior tri-captain Danielle Welch stretched out the Eagles’ lead on a seeing-eye shot that Sperry never saw.
“I think [the goal] had a little bit of luck. The second one kind of found the top corner from almost behind the net,” Durocher said.
Freshman Emily Pfalzer finished off BC’s offensive surge 10:41 into the frame when she picked up a pass from senior Mary Restuccia and beat the Terriers’ defense in a two-on-one, giving the Eagles a 3-0 advantage.
During the third frame, the Terriers were more potent offensively as both teams racked up penalty minutes. During the course of the period, the teams had a combined seven penalties, one of which cost BU a goal.
With just 4:32 left in the game, junior forward Jill Cardella notched her first goal of the season to stop the Terriers from being blanked.
With 17 seconds left in the game, BU thought that it had another goal, but instead junior right wing Britt Hergesheimer was called with a penalty for interfering with the goaltender.
“We got a little snake bitten with the penalties there in the third period and that might have prevented us a better opportunity to make a little bit of a late run, “ Durocher said.
The game had a total of 21 penalties, 10 for BC and 11 for the Terriers.
Three of the penalties came into effect after the final whistle when senior defensemen Tara Watchorn received one for roughing and BC sophomore Taylor Wasylk received two: a five minute major for contact to the head and a game misconduct.
Wasylk had earned a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct earlier in the third frame.
The Eagles outshot BU 38-23. Sperry, who earned the title Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for the second time this season, had 35 saves.
The netminder has now stopped at least 30 shots in six-straight games and in seven out of her eight starts this season.
While the Terriers have lost three of their last four, Durocher is still pleased with his team’s performance especially considering the injuries his team has faced.
“I was really happy with the way our team competed [Saturday],” Durocher said. “There was times when they could have melted or quit out there but they never did.
“I don’t think it’s any question when you lose to the elite teams be it Wisconsin or Boston College, you want to split, you want to be .500 with them. Maybe a little better than that… Looking at the severity of the injuries and the people that are missing… I’d like to get some of those people back here.”
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