The Boston University women’s hockey team will face off against in-city rival No. 8 Northeastern University in a home-and-home series this weekend. The first game will take place at the Walter Brown Arena while the second will take place on Northeastern’s ice.
BU will look to avoid going 0-2, which they’ve managed to evade doing for the past 12 years.
The Terriers (0-1, 0-1 Hockey East) opened the season dropping a 2-1 game against Merrimack College at the Walter Brown Arena last week.
Northeastern’s (0-1-1) season opener came the following week with two back-to-back games against last season’s National Championship winners No. 2 Clarkson University. The first game ended in a 1-1 tie but Northeastern suffered a rough 1-5 loss in the second. With neither BU or Northeastern currently having wins on the board in their fledgling seasons, the competition will be fierce.
Friday’s match will mark the return of the Terriers after a two week hiatus. The extended time off has given the players, as well as the coaches, plenty of time to analyze Northeastern’s strengths and weaknesses and strategize accordingly.
“They’ve always been a tough match up for us,” head coach Brian Durocher said. “They’ve always given us a fight.”
Durocher in particular noted Northeastern’s defense as something that the Terriers have worked hard to prepare for.
“They have a second line that has some real, real tough match ups,” Durocher said. “[Anderson] and Harrington … are both tall, great reach type of players. We‘ve gotta be ready for them.”
Both schools have clashed numerous times in previous seasons. BU has had the upper hand for the past decade, with a record of 35-16-5 against Northeastern since the 2005-06 season, but faced a tough 2-1 loss against the Huskies in last season’s Hockey East Semifinals.
Some players of note for the Terriers include junior defender Reagan Rust, who could prove to be a breakout player. Rust transferred to BU after attending the Rochester Institute of Technology for two years, for which she also splayed hockey In her previous season, Rust placed third in scoring with 14 points — three goals and a team-high of 11 assists.
Rust began her BU career in the season debut against Merrimack (2-1, 1-0 Hockey East) in which she scored the team’s first goal of the season. In doing so she has become the fourth straight Terrier newcomer to record a point in their debut with BU.
Senior forward and assistant captain Victoria Bach and sophomore blueliner Abby Cook also put points on the board in the team’s first game of the year.
Last season, Bach led the Hockey East in scoring with a career-high 49 points. She also enters this game one point outside the top five of BU’s women’s hockey all-time scoring record. Bach also enters the contest one goal behind former Terrier Jenelle Kohanchuk for third on the all-time goals leaders.
Also of note is senior goaltender and assistant captain Erin O’Neil. Despite giving up two goals, she stopped 30 shots going her way, boasting a save percentage of .938.
Durocher said he has high hopes for his players this year, but the season is still young, and he acknowledges that there’s always room for improvement.
“We’ll get back out there, play another game,” Durocher said. “Get to know a little bit more about our team after this weekend.”
Matthew Martin contributing to the reporting on this article.
