Women’s hockey hopes to continue success at home vs. UConn

The No. 10 Boston University women’s hockey team will continue its four-game homestand Wednesday night when the Terriers host the University of Connecticut at Walter Brown Arena.

This will be the 27th meeting all-time between the Terriers (6-1-1, 3-0 Hockey East) and the Huskies (3-5-1, 0-1-1 Hockey East). BU has dominated the series as of late —the Terriers have won the last 11 contests.

The Terriers have been great so far at home this season, posting a 2-0 record while outscoring opponents by an 8-1 margin. With all four games of this current homestand against Hockey East opponents, BU coach Brian Durocher and his team have an opportunity to separate themselves from most of the conference with a couple of wins over the weekend.

“Everybody that plays the game in any sport, whether it’s hockey, basketball, football, et cetera, you want to defend home court,” Durocher said. “If you do a really good job there, then you can hypothetically play .500 hockey on the road and end up with a solid record, be a playoff team and be in good order for the postseason.

“So far, we’ve gotten out of the gate doing a pretty good job that way, but it’s a long season and hopefullytomorrow is another example.”

After a rough 2012-13 campaign that saw the Huskies post a miserable 3-29-3 record, UConn has rebounded in a big way, as the Huskies have already equaled their win total this year with a victory over Colgate University and two wins over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The Huskies are led by first-year coach Chris MacKenzie, who previously served as the assistant coach at Ohio State University and the head coach at Niagara University. Durocher said that the addition of MacKenzie has had a positive impact on the UConn program.

“UConn, they’re a team that made a coaching change this year in Chris MacKenzie,” Durocher said. “He did it once at Niagara and I think he’ll probably do it again at UConn, where he really energized the team the first year he took over. I’m guessing he’s trying to instill some confidence in them, trying to keep the game simple and I think that’s what we will probably see tomorrow.

“I don’t think we’ll see somebody out there trying to beat us 7-6, but somebody will come in here with confidence and probably play close to the vest. … They’re an organized team and they’ll be hoping that some bounces go their way.”

While the Huskies currently possess the second-worst scoring offense in the conference (2.00 goals per game), UConn still has talent up front. UConn forward Sarah MacDonald leads the team with eight points in nine games.

The Huskies have featured a platoon in net so far this season, as both sophomore Elaine Chuli and senior Sarah Moses have made five appearances this year. Moses has posted the better save percentage (.919), while Chuli holds the better goals-against average (3.29).

The Terriers are coming off of arguably their most dominant win of the season, as BU defeated the University of Vermont by a score of 6-0 Saturday afternoon at Walter Brown Arena.

Senior goaltender Kerrin Sperry was phenomenal in net, as she recorded the 12th shutout of her career in what was her 100th start for BU. Sperry, the 2013 Hockey East Tournament MVP, has once again established herself as one of the best goalies in the conference. She is currently leading Hockey East in goals-against average (1.39), save percentage (.954) and winning percentage (.929).

So far this season, the Terriers have not allowed more than three goals in any of their eight games this season, which is the longest streak to open a season in program history.

The BU offense has also been impressive as of late, as the Terriers have averaged four goals per game over their last three games. The Terriers are currently second in the conference in goals per game (3.00), trailing Boston College (3.89). BU has received contributions from a multitude of players this season, as each forward and defenseman on the roster has already registered at least one point this season.

While Durocher has been pleased with his team’s offensive proficiency as of late, he still wants his team to stay focused on what has made them one of the premier programs in the nation: team defense.

“Again, I was really pleased that we ended up with six goals,” Durocher said. “Some of that was maybe we deflated Vermont late in the game and they may have stopped playing as hard as they normally do a little bit out of frustration. … That being said, anytime the kids can score goals, get assists and create offense, it really bodes well for their confidence and that’s the best thing you can take out of a game like that.

“Going forward, we’re still going to hang our hat and be a real competitive team defensively, try to play as hard as we can in our end. The other end of the ice is a little more talent, there’s hard work involved, but you can run into goalies or the other team playing well and not always turn the light on, so let’s play good in one end and keep our fingers crossed for talent enough or making enough plays to score at the other.”