In a back-and-forth contest, the No. 7 Boston University women’s hockey team defeated the University of Connecticut by a score of 5-3 on Saturday afternoon.
The win served as the 200th victory for the BU (17-6-2, 12-4 Hockey East) program and coach Brian Durocher, but things were not entirely positive for the Terriers inside the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum.
UConn (7-15-6, 3-9-3 Hockey East) jumped out on BU in the game’s early-goings when senior Kayla Campero fired a back-hander past freshman goaltender Erin O’Neil only 25 seconds into the first frame. Durocher said this jolted his team awake and forced his players to claw and fight their way back.
“It created a little bit of immediate adversity,” he said. “It was right out of the gate, and unfortunately we didn’t do a good job early in the period. It was one of those ones that snuck through, so we had to fight back. Thankfully, the kids were resilient.”
The Terriers tried to respond quickly through the line of junior forward Jordan Juron, freshman forward Rebecca Leslie and freshman forward Victoria Bach, but the post and UConn goalie Elaine Chuli stood in BU’s way. Chuli, who made 39 saves on the afternoon, could only stand tall for so long, though.
Sophomore forward Samantha Sutherland found the back of the net 12:43 into the first period and set the Terriers back on track. The Huskies and Terriers did not share the score for long however, as another early goal doomed BU in the second period.
Husky freshman Theresa Knutson beat O’Neil 4:31 into the second period and forced BU to face another deficit before it could fully get its bearings. A quick equalizer from senior defenseman Shannon Doyle brought the Terriers back into the contest, but UConn forward Kelly Harris pushed her team ahead just three minutes later.
Nonetheless, BU responded yet again — this time through Bach at the 19:16 mark of the second — to head into the third period with things all tied up at three apiece. With a significant challenge ahead, the Terriers sought to end the seesawing nature of the first two periods.
Durocher said this plagued his team throughout the game’s first two frames and made it hard to settle into a definitive rhythm.
“It was one of those frustrating things where you hope you have the tying [goal] in you, but UConn kept on having the motivation, energy and momentum,” he said. “We were playing reasonably well, but pucks were finding their way in. As we looked at the clock with ten minutes left, it was still a tie hockey game.”
Reinvigorated after the interval, BU came out strong in the third period and confidently settled the Hockey East encounter. Junior forward Kayla Tutino, who recorded her 100th career point, bested Chuli at the 14:03 mark of the third period. Durocher said Tutino’s goal was not only massive, but also spoke to the type of player she is.
“Kayla is a kid whose calling card is her intensity, concentration and competitiveness,” he said. “She’s a recognized leader through the letter on her jersey, she sets the bar in the weight room and in practice and is an up-shining example for the younger kids. I’m really happy for her success.”
As things got tense in the game’s waning seconds, Tutino’s classmate and fellow forward Rebecca Russo settled the game once and for all with an empty net goal at the 19:39 mark of the third. With the game out of reach for UConn, the Terriers rode out the final 21 seconds en route to a crucial two points in Hockey East play.
While the game was more difficult than anticipated, Durocher was quick to applaud his team’s efforts in the later stages and ability to overcome adversity throughout the contest.
“There are games that you hope are on the easier side, but today didn’t turn out that way,” he said. “The best thing we can take out of it is we had to compete for 60 minutes. We had to grind for 60 minutes. That is something that will be a nice building block as we approach the playoffs, Beanpot or potentially the NCAA tournament.”
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.
