The Boston University women’s ice hockey team is set to face rival No. 4 Boston College in a weekend home-and-home series this weekend following a 10-day layoff.
The Terriers (3-3-1, 2-3 Patriot League) are looking to recover from a recent two-game skid against Northeastern University, the first time the team had lost back-to-back games since early February of last year.
BU is also looking to avenge its last contest against the Eagles (6-2-2, 5-1 Hockey East), where it fell 5-0 in last season’s Hockey East Championship game.
After a sweep over the University of Connecticut last weekend, BC has proven that it deserves its spot as a top-five team in the nation, and has fared far better thus far than the unranked Terriers.
Despite the early season struggles, BU head coach Brian Durocher expressed optimism about his team’s approach.
“We’ve been practicing and working on some things but we’ve got to bring it to a game and get ourselves ready for these back-to-back games in the next six weeks,” Durocher said. “The best way to do that is to build slowly with a good couple of shifts and carry it through the first period.”
The Eagles wield star senior Andie Anastos, who notched all three power-play goals during last Friday’s shutout victory over the Huskies (6-3-1, 2-1 Hockey East).
The Farmington Hills, Michigan native completed the hat trick and matched the NCAA single-game record for power-play goals in a game. Anastos finished the weekend scoring half of her team’s goals and was subsequently named the Hockey East co-Player of the Week on Monday.
While the Eagles possess the skilled forward, the Terriers’ 3.86 goals per game is slightly better than BC’s 3.00.
BU graduate student forward Mary Parker and senior forward Samantha Sutherland have become key contributors, with six and seven goals, respectively. Junior forward Victoria Bach has taken the second-most shots this season, one behind fellow forward Rebecca Leslie’s 36 attempts.
“[Our offense] was something we thought was going to be a positive going into the year and you can go down the list and there’s a long line of good players,” Durocher said. “It’s good to know we’ve got multiple people who can generate offense, and there are ones that have been leading the way so far.”
However, BU will have to contend with BC freshmen Caitrin Lonergan and Delaney Belinskas, who have combined for 11 goals and 17 points this season.
The Eagles have also found great success on power plays, with half of their goals coming while the other team has been in the box.
BU’s recent losses against Northeastern have demonstrated how frustrating a strong opposing goaltender be to an offensive attack. BC’s netminder Katie Burt owns 0.923 save percentage, and she has the potential to stymie the BU offense.
Durocher stressed that his team must wait for its chance against Burt, and then capitalize.
“The best thing when you deal with a good goaltender is making sure you get some good screens, tips, and deflections.” Durocher said. “I also think it’s important not to wait for the perfect shot. For example, if you get an opportunity where you can use the defensemen as a screen or they make an error and give us an opportunity.”
Coming off the lengthy break, Durocher and his squad have had time to work on their defensive skills, and they’ll be looking to correct their mistakes this weekend.
“I really think it’s a team effort,” Durocher said. “We need to have the forwards back-checking and smartly. We need to have everyone competing. We’ve worked at every part of the game as much as we can and we’ve had plenty of time to do it so we have hopefully done a good job.”
