Competing on the road against a slumping Northeastern University side Sunday afternoon, the No. 7 Boston University women’s hockey team capped off an inconsistent winter break with a strong victory over its crosstown rival.
In a showcase of premier goaltending and offensive ability, the Terriers (14-5-2, 10-3 Hockey East) skated away from Matthews Arena with a narrow 4-3 victory.
The Huskies (6-12-4, 5-7-1 Hockey East), coming off a demoralizing home-and-home series against No.1 Boston College in which they were outscored 16-4, got on the scoreboard first. Forward Kendall Coyne, who tallied all three Northeastern goals on the afternoon, fired home on the power play at the 16:49 mark of the first period.
Northeastern’s lead was short-lived, however, as junior forward Kayla Tutino leveled the score with 35 seconds remaining in the opening period and propelled the Terriers toward four unanswered goals. Following Tutino, senior captain Marie-Philip Poulin contributed two scores of her own early in the second period. The four-goal tear was topped off with a shorthanded goal from freshman forward Rebecca Leslie 12:13 into the second period.
The Terriers’ offensive outburst largely came courtesy of the newfound first line of junior wing Sarah Lefort, Tutino and Poulin, who altogether finished the game with four points on the afternoon and a combined 21 shots on goal. BU coach Brian Durocher said the play of his seasoned first line was paramount in getting the victory.
“Marie, Sarah and Kayla certainly answered the bell today,” he said. “When it comes to scoring points and leading the team, they’ve stepped up lately in a big way. Kayla has been in a good run of form, Marie has continued to play well and Sarah may not be scoring as much as she is accustomed to, but still is having chances.”
After Leslie’s goal, the Terriers comfortably sat ahead by a score of 4-1, but Northeastern was adamant in its quest for a comeback. Coyne found the back of the net twice more, and freshman goaltender Erin O’Neil was forced to stand on her head on multiple occasions.
O’Neil, who has been in and out of the lineup throughout the year, was able to turn aside 30 of the 33 shots that came her way and extended her record to 6-2-1 on the year. Durocher noted the importance of his freshman goaltender in securing a victory over the Huskies.
“The biggest thing with Erin was how she played early in the game,” Durocher said. “Erin had three, maybe four, of what I would call Grade-A saves. A possible 2-0 or 3-0 Northeastern lead was kept quiet at only 1-0. She allowed us to stay in the game, and in the third period, she made an incredible pad save on a wrap-around attempt. It was good to have her. She controlled the puck well, and was a subtle leader for us back there.”
Despite the Terriers’ performance Sunday performance, the team had its share of struggles over the winter break period. In four games, the Terriers went 2-2 and saw their position in the national rankings slide three spots.
On Jan. 7, the Terriers traveled down the road to Conte Forum to take on an undefeated BC (22-0-1, 15-0 Hockey East) team. While the Eagles ultimately skated to a 4-3 victory over, it did not come without a fight.
Lefort, Tutino and Poulin all scored in the first frame to push the Terriers out to an early lead, but BC goals in the second and third periods squashed BU’s efforts. Durocher said his team performed well, but he was slightly discouraged with the final results.
“The performance was a real positive, but we aren’t looking for moral victories,” he said. “We skated to an early lead courtesy of our first line, but we really wanted to get out of there with a tie or maybe a win. They are an extremely talented team and one of the best college hockey teams I’ve ever seen, and we gave ourselves a chance, but failed in closing the deal.”
Motivated by their efforts against BC, the Terriers then welcomed the University of Maine to Walter Brown Arena on Jan. 10. A well-balanced approach from the Terriers’ four lines and stout goaltending from O’Neil helped BU comfortably cruise to a 5-3 victory over the Black Bears (8-11-3, 7-4-1 Hockey East).
In the win, freshman forward Victoria Bach stood out in particular, as she finished the afternoon with a goal and two assists. Senior defenseman Shannon Doyle also put in an impressive performance, as she contributed two assists of her own.
The Terriers then traveled to Ithaca, New York, to take on No. 10 Cornell University on Jan. 13. The strong form that the Terriers had accumulated was absent as the Big Red (9-6-3) started off the game by netting six unanswered goals past sophomore goaltender Victoria Hanson.
Tutino and Poulin were each able to score in the game’s latter stages, but their efforts could not correct a disappointing Terrier performance. Cornell ultimately skated away with a convincing 6-2 victory.
Looking at the broader picture, BU finished its stretch of games over the winter break with a 2-2 record. The Terriers’ form was largely up and down, and Durocher’s feelings about his team’s performances were just as mixed.
“On the positive side, we finished the four games 2-2, but on the negative side, we haven’t been all that hard to play against,” Durocher said. “We have to get back to that, where we create defensive layers, are decisive in the offensive zone and just overall harder to face. We’ve been talking about this a lot lately, but executing it is a different thing.”
More importantly, these last four games have allowed the Terriers to look inward and assess where they stand as a team. For Durocher, he said his team is now concerned with consistently executing.
“We hold ourselves to a pretty high standard, so I wouldn’t say we are entirely happy with where we stand or how the games went over the winter break,” Durocher said. “We have to be more accountable with how we defend and how we approach the entire 60 minutes. We have to get into our team identity an ability to shut teams down and score timely goals, both of which will make us a far more dangerous team.”
Jonathan's a New Englander who writes about sports, features and politics. He currently covers men's hockey at BU, worked as Sports Editor during the spring 2016 semester and is on the FreeP's Board of Directors. Toss him a follow on Twitter at @jonathansigal.
