Sunday was a day of new experiences for the Boston University women’s ice hockey team, as the Terriers (10-9-3, 5-6-2 Hockey East) defeated the University of Connecticut for the first time all season behind freshman goaltender Allyse Wilcox’s first career shutout in a 3-0 win at Walter Brown Arena.
The Huskies (8-15-1, 6-5-0) entered the afternoon hoping to sweep their three-game regular-season series against BU. In the first two games, the Terriers were held scoreless by senior goalie Kaitlyn Shain in 3-0 and 1-0 losses. But the third time was the charm for BU.
“This was our most thorough game,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “We played well territorially, shut down their power play and kept them off the board.”
Both teams started off slowly, getting off very few shots. Most of the action took place between the bluelines near center ice.
Freshman Erin Seman let off the first strong shot of the game for the Terriers, but Shain made a great glove save. Shortly after, freshman Nicki Wiart took a pass from Caroline Bourdeau on a 2-on-1 breakaway and fired a backhanded shot, but Shain was there for another terrific save.
With six minutes left, freshman Laurel Koller came onto the ice during a line change and skated unguarded down the left side with the puck before firing it over Shain’s shoulder to give BU its first-ever goal against UConn. For Koller, it was her team-leading 10th goal of the year.
Wilcox made two excellent saves late in the period to preserve the team’s 1-0 lead.
The stellar goaltending continued on both sides through most of the second period.
However, a scramble for the puck in front of UConn’s net resulted in BU freshman Sophie Thornton’s first collegiate goal with 7:26 in the frame.
“I got a pass from the board and took a shot,” she said. “The puck hit somebody’s stick and it bounced around and went in.”
Out of all the confusion in front of the net, the Terriers came away with a commanding 2-0 lead over a team that averages only 1.82 goals per game, the second lowest in the conference. BU also got offensive production from a player who rarely gets the opportunity to show what she can do with the puck.
“Sophie must believe she is a good player and she did today,” Durocher said. “It is hard to get pure, direct shots on Shain, but she got the good bounce this time.”
While the Terrier offense doubled their lead, Wilcox remained just as tough to get past as before. UConn took 13 shots on goal during the first two periods and was denied on every one of them. Wilcox wouldn’t let up in the final period, either.
The Huskies dug themselves a hole to start the third, when junior Alicia Ramolla was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking less than 30 seconds after the opening faceoff.
A minute later, freshman Gina Kearns took a pass from Koller and found the back of the net for a power play goal. The great pass by Koller was indicative of the team’s overall passing success throughout the game.
“We had some time to work on passing over the break,” Durocher said. “We also took advantage of them being tired. We had a lot of practices and only one game during the break, while UConn has had four games in the past week.”
With a three goals and a victory less than 20 minutes away, the Terriers shifted their focus to defense.
In the final five minutes, UConn made a push to avoid its seventh scoreless game this season. The Huskies attempted 18 shots in the third frame, most during the final stretch, and 10 were on target. But once again, Wilcox stopped all of them.
“The shutout was nice, because she has been close to getting one many times before and today she really earned it,” Durocher said. “In the end, the defense kept UConn at bay and focused on getting her the shutout.”
Wilcox leads the Hockey East in conference saves (342) and conference saves per game (28.5). Overall, she has a .920 save percentage and a 2.32 goals-against average. Despite her outstanding individual accomplishment, Wilcox acknowledged the team effort it took to beat a tough UConn team.
“The defense played very well and I couldn’t have done it without them,” she said. “We knew our competition and we worked hard for this win.”
