The No. 9 Boston University women’s hockey team will look to bounce back this weekend against No. 6 Harvard University and the University of New Hampshire following a tough 5-0 loss to No. 2 University of Wisconsin last week.
Senior captain Louise Warren scored two goals against UNH Nov. 1
BU coach Brian Durocher said he wants the Terriers (10-2-1, 6-0-0 Hockey East) to focus on two things in this weekend’s matchups.
“We can continue trying to push the envelope on the power of positive and be focused on what we need to work on,” Durocher said.
The loss to the Badgers, which snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Terriers, was not as bad as the score indicated, he said.
“We played a solid game,” Durocher said. “I’m actually going to show them some of that tape to make sure that they know that they played pretty well and it wasn’t a 5-0 type game. But credit to Wisconsin, they took care of us. Along the way, you’re going to have games where you don’t play as well or you don’t get the bounces and you come up on the short end.”
The effect of Durocher’s “power of positive” will be on full display when the Terriers trek to Cambridge to face off against Harvard (6-1-1) Fridaynight and then head north to Durham, N.H., to play UNH (6-5-1, 4-2 Hockey East) Sunday.
The first matchup against the Crimson will be another tough test for the Terriers, as Harvard is one of the top teams in the country. Durocher said the key to Harvard’s success is associated with their depth.
“Harvard is a pretty consistent team from top-to-bottom,” Durocher said. “They lost a great player to the Olympics for the year and they have a real good goalie in Emerance Maschmeyer, so those will be a couple pieces for us to focus on. We have to make sure we’re getting screens, getting tips, getting deflections in front of a good goalie and being ready for a team that plays at a pretty quick pace.
“I don’t know if they have one or two kids that is off the charts over there, but they’ve got a hell of a lot of very solid players that we’re going to have to be ready for across the board.”
Maschmeyer has been phenomenal between the pipes for the Crimson this year, sitting close to the top nationally in nearly every goaltending category. Her .953 save percentage is tied for the best save percentage in the nation, and her 1.27 goals against average is good for fourth-best in that category.
Since 2000-01, the Crimson have posted an impressive .742 winning percentage at home. They have yet to lose on a game on home ice in four matchups this year, making the trip to Cambridge that much more difficult for BU.
After taking on their rivals from across the Charles River, the Terriers will face off against the UNH Wildcats for the second time this season. Led by senior captain Louise Warren’s two goals, the Terriers bested the Wildcats in a 3-1 contest on Nov. 1.
Durocher said he expects the Wildcats to come out stronger in the rematch.
“Anytime you beat a team the first time, you’ve got to be careful that there is no let down,” Durocher said. “Everybody knows that we’re going to be back in league play. Let’s take advantage of the fact that we’ve gotten out of the gate really successfully in the league and try to keep it going. UNH will probably have a player or two back from when we played from the first time so they’ll have a little bit more depth.”
Durocher said UNH defenseman Alexis Crossley will make a big impact in the matchup if she plays.
“They’re going to have a little more volume if Crossley comes back,” Durocher said. “She’s an outstanding defenseman who was out the first game, so we can’t take them lightly.”
Coming off of their biggest loss of the season, the Terriers are focusing on one game at a time.
Durocher said he will start senior goaltender Kerrin Sperry Friday, but will see how she performs before making a decision for Sunday’s contest.
“[Sperry] was a little under the weather out there and she got hit by the altitude bug,” Durocher said about Sperry’s health last weekend. “She’s somebody who we know will give us a great effort and if we decide to go [freshman goaltender] Victoria Hanson for a night, it’s going to be because she’s very well prepared. She’s played a couple of full college hockey games and did a nice job coming out of the bullpen the other day so we’ve got two wonderful options to say the least.”
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