For the fourth consecutive year, the Bertagna Trophy is heading back to Boston, as the No. 7 Boston University women’s hockey team won the Hockey East Tournament this past weekend.
BU (25-8-3, 15-5-1 Hockey East) came into the tournament, which was held in Hyannis, as the number two seed and proved its worth against conference foes. After winning six of their nine games in February, the Terriers wasted no time in carrying their hot form into March.
They convincingly defeated Northeastern University 6-1 in the semifinal round on Saturday, in which the Terriers demonstrated their ability to jump out on opponents early and often. By the midpoint of the third period, BU was up 5-0, and any hopes of a Northeastern (14-17-5, 11-8-2) comeback were squashed via a late goal from sophomore forward Natalie Flynn.
With a triumph over the Huskies in the books, BU had set itself up for a championship match against rival and No. 1 ranked Boston College on Sunday. In the two team’s previous three Hockey East counters, BC (33-2-2, 20-0-1 Hockey East) emerged victorious twice and drew BU once, but it was ultimately the Terriers who got the last laugh on Sunday.
Senior captain Marie-Philip Poulin and BC forward Alex Carpenter traded goals to start off the contest, but not before another goal from Poulin and insurance tallies from sophomore forward Maddie Elia and junior winger Sarah Lefort clinched a 4-1 BU victory .
With the victory, the Terriers will now play in their sixth straight NCAA tournament. Several key strategies and individual performances propelled BU toward its fifth Hockey East trophy.
Poulin, who was named the Hockey East Tournament MVP, recorded seven points over the course of the weekend, courtesy of five goals and two assists. In doing so, the Beauceville, Québec native displayed her penchant for clutch performances and etched another chapter into her illustrious career.
“As many accolades and as much success as [Poulin] has had in the past, these two games might rival any pair of back-to-back games she has played in her life,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “Against [Northeastern], she controlled the game on both ends, and then with [BC], she had to play against a deeper team. To come away with five goals, two assists, penalty kills and blocked shots is just amazing and shows just how much of a talent she is.”
As crucial as the senior captain was, BU’s second line of freshman forward Victoria Bach, freshman forward Rebecca Leslie and Elia was just as pivotal. The trio finished the weekend with only three points, but admirably provided the Terriers with depth and smart hockey from areas outside of the top line of Poulin, Lefort and junior forward Kayla Tutino.
In fact, Elia’s power-play goal against BC put the game to bed and was one of many chances her line carved out. They finished the weekend with 11 shots and, if not for stout play between the pipes from Northeastern netminder Chloe Desjardins and BC’s goaltender Katie Burt, could have left a larger dent on the scoresheet.
“I felt like the second line could have easily had two, three or four goals against BC,” Durocher said. “Victoria Bach had a couple good looks, Rebecca Leslie was making good plays and Maddie was skating hard. They really had an outstanding weekend, and Maddie’s goal was a huge one for us. No matter what the goals or assists say, they all played tremendously.”
While the Terriers offense erupted for 10 goals over the weekend, BU’s defensive play allowed for them to get ahead of Northeastern early on Saturday and contain BC in Sunday’s tight encounter.
The Terriers quelled all of Northeastern’s five power-play opportunities and prevented a powerful BC offense from tallying on any of their four power-play chances. BU also blocked 39 shots across the two games and won 60 of the 112 faceoffs that occurred across the weekend.
Most importantly though, BU was able to execute its defensive gameplay and keep dangerous players in Northeastern forward Kendall Coyne and Carpenter relatively quiet. The duo finished the regular season as two of the highest scoring forwards in college hockey, yet Coyne only managed an assist and Carpenter could find the back of the net only once.
“We had to do two things to be successful,” Durocher said. “Number one was we had to have five people committed to defense, and number two was we had to make good reads when we were forechecking. This weekend, we did all of that. When the pressure was on, we stood pretty tall and made a lot of good decisions.”
On top of BU’s team defense, sophomore goaltender Victoria Hanson offered a commanding presence between the pipes. She stopped all but one of the 16 shots the Huskies threw her way on Saturday, only to then outdo herself against the Eagles’ nation-leading offense in Sunday’s championship match.
She finished with 32 saves against BC, the best of which was a blocker save on BC forward Emily Field’s third period breakaway. As strong as Hanson’s save on Field was, Durocher said he felt his sophomore goaltender saved her best for when it mattered the most.
“[Goaltender] is the most important position in the game, and when it’s your first time going through the tough games, you’re never sure how someone is going to react,” he said. “You always hope they’re going to be prepared, and [Victoria] certainly did her part. This was probably her best weekend in terms of controlling rebounds and looking like she was in charge back there.”
Looking at the weekend as a whole, the Terriers relied on outstanding performances from several key players, but put together arguably their best weekend of hockey all season. They managed to conjure up a resounding victory over a better-than-advertised Husky side on Saturday, only to then grind out an inspired performance against a BC team that hadn’t lost to a Hockey East opponent all season.
The Terriers may not have been the odds-on favorite to win the Hockey East title, but Durocher said they got the job done when few thought they could.
“This year, we were certainly underdogs, but we managed to play great, and [Sunday] was even better than Saturday,” Durocher said. “The kids were spot on all the way through.”
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.
