The No. 6/7 Boston University women’s hockey team will close out its 2014-15 regular season when it takes on a No. 1 Boston College side in a home-and-home series Thursday and Saturday.
The Thursday encounter will see the Terriers (21-7-2, 15-4 Hockey East) travel to Conte Forum to take on the Eagles (29-1-1, 19-0 Hockey East), while the Saturday affair has BU and BC facing off at Walter Brown Arena.
These two rival teams met earlier in the season on Jan. 7, when BC narrowly edged out a 4-3 victory over the Terriers in Chestnut Hill. That Hockey East clash represented one of the only times a high-powered BC team was pushed to the brink and truly tested by a conference opponent.
“I don’t know if [the loss] gives us an extra push because every game is a new chapter,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “We are going to have to play a real sharp game. The kids know they can play with this team, but playing with a team and getting it done are sometimes two very different things. We don’t want to rely on moral victories, so we have to get over the hurdle and beat them in a regular season game.”
While the Terriers suffered a loss in January, BU has been enjoying a rich run of form as of late. The team has played some of its best hockey during its four-game winning streak, tied for its longest of the year.
Strong victories over the University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University and Providence College stand out, but the individual performances of several forwards have buoyed the Terriers as of late.
Most notably, junior forward Sarah Lefort has found her scoring touch once again, as she has scored six goals and dished out three assists over her last three games. In a similar vein, freshman forward Victoria Bach has recorded three goals and two assists over the last four games.
Although Lefort and Bach are on different lines, Durocher said the forwards have the potential to cause trouble for BC on Thursday and Saturday.
“Victoria has been pretty steady all the way through the season, whereas Sarah had maybe a little bit of lull here,” he said. “That obviously has ended in grand fashion and timely fashion because she was the leading goal scorer in the country last year. She has got the size, the strength, the vision and most importantly the great shot. We need her to be on her game, so I’m glad she chose the next-to-last weekend to get back in her groove and get going.”
As impressive as Lefort, Bach and several other BU forwards have been, the Eagles boast their own strong forward corps and offensive prowess. Home to eight of the top 16 scoring forwards in Hockey East and an eye-grabbing 5.29 goals a game, BC has the potential to find the back of the net early and often.
Although the Eagles possess four lines capable of scoring, they are led by a pair of stalwart forwards of their own. Juniors Alex Carpenter, who has 67 points to her name, and Haley Skarupa, who has 57 points, lead the charge.
Carpenter and Skarupa alone present a serious threat for BU’s defense and goaltending duo of freshman Erin O’Neil and sophomore Victoria Hanson, but Durocher said he is aware of the dangers BC offers as a whole.
“The two great players are Haley Skarupa and Alex Carpenter, but Emily Field, Dana Trivigno and Kenzie Kent are all national-level forwards,” he said. “It’s not just a small group of players for them. It’s beyond that. I really think that the biggest difference and what separates their team is that they have six really skilled, talented defensemen. They can go get the puck, turn up the ice and make a play so quickly, that it’s hard to pick your poison.”
Adding to the plot of BU’s two final games is the prospect of postseason play. As of now, BU sits in second place in Hockey East and is guaranteed the number two seed in the impending Hockey East Tournament, regardless of their results against BC on Thursday and Saturday.
How BU fares in its final two games could also have a massive impact on its place in the PairWise Rankings. Used as a barometer for the eight-team NCAA tournament, BU sits in sixth and is in danger of slipping out of the national picture.
Looking to go far in postseason play and close out the season strongly, Durocher said he is pushing for strong showings against BC.
“We will get to the tournament when we get to the tournament, but without a doubt, the PairWise Rankings have been a part of my conversations,” he said. “It has served as a subtle motivation for the kids, and thankfully, we have done a good job lately. As far as the BC games go, we have to go out and do the best that we can. If it’s a split, if it’s two wins, if it’s a loss and a tie, anything to grab points is going to be important.”
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.
