In a season marked by resiliency and unexpected success achieved in dramatic style, the Boston University women’s ice hockey team proved, despite a 4-3 loss, once more Saturday why it fits the bill for both.
Once again, the Terriers stayed resilient to the end, and were it not for some curious officiating and a missed offensive opportunity or two, they might be two points higher in the standings. Unfortunately for BU, it walked away from Northeastern University with 4-3 loss.
“Overall I think we played extremely hard,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “We had plenty of offensive opportunities. I think Northeastern, while they played a solid game, they had some good fortune.”
The last four minutes of this game had more action and excitement than the first 56 combined, with a total of four goals scored.
Highly representative of what a physical game it was, the third period opened up with little to no full-strength play, with four penalties in the first eight minutes. And with the Terriers down, 2-1 with the man advantage, freshman Kelly Karnan netted the equalizer at 10:09, just her third goal of the season.
But the tie was short lived as Terrier-killer Ashley Bielawski scored her second goal of the game at 15:38. It was the junior forward’s fifth goal in three games against BU. And just over a minute later, junior forward Jessica Copney netted her fourth goal of the season to put the Huskies up, 4-2.
Then the Terriers took over. With over two minutes left in the game, Durocher pulled Allyse Wilcox in favor of a sixth skater. The advantage proved valuable, as Nicki Wiart tipped in her second goal of the game to give BU life with just 51 seconds remaining.
Still in favor of an empty net, it looked as if the Terriers had sent the game to overtime with just 17 seconds to go, but the goal was waved off due to an early whistle and the Huskies skated away with a win.
“I thought the officiating was definitely inconsistent,” Hendry said. “He’d let some stuff go, but then he’d call some really minor, inconsequential things. Sometimes he’d be really slow on the whistle when [the puck] was in the crease, and sometimes he would just blow it down right away.
“There was a few times Wilcox had it and [the ref] let [Northeastern] hack at her for about five seconds,” Hendry added.
Hendry’s teammates expressed equal frustration in how the game was called.
“[The refs] seemed to always be in the way and when they weren’t in the way, they weren’t really watching the play,” said forward Erin Seman. “They weren’t able to make the calls that they needed to.”
The game did start well for the Terriers, as they kicked off the scoring action right away with a power play goal just 1:44 into the first period. Freshman defenseman Amanda Shaw ripped a shot from the blue line, and Wiart was ready and waiting to tip it in. Hendry was also credited with an assist on the play.
It took Northeastern some time to gain its bearings in Walter Brown Arena, but they retaliated with a shorthanded goal from sophomore Nikki Petrich at 15:48 of the opening frame.
“We played hard,” Seman said. “It was just a day where it was really unlucky, especially that first goal.”
In a second period marked by penalties – eight in total – the Huskies took advantage of a 4-on-4 situation at 4:54, when Bielawski beat Wilcox off the faceoff in the BU zone.
As they headed off the ice for the second intermission, there was visible frustration on the Terriers’ faces.
“I thought we played well,” Hendry said. “A little slow in the first, but we definitely picked it up in the second and third periods.”
“[Northeastern] had some good fortune,” Durocher said, citing the quick whistle that may have denied the Terriers the chance to even the score.
As far as playoff chances go, it looks bleak for the Terriers in the Hockey East, though there is still a chance. They still have the Beanpot Tournament coming up on Tuesday against Harvard University.
“It’s a credit that we made games exciting into February,” Durocher said. “It’s a credit to every kid in that locker room that played their heart out and played tremendous, but it obviously bodes well for the future.”