Boston University’s “other” ice hockey team will play in a significant Beanpot game next Monday night against a familiar rival.
BU’s women’s squad scored four unanswered goals in the second and third periods to defeat Northeastern University, 4-2, Tuesday night in the opening round of the 29th Annual Women’s Beanpot Tournament at Boston College’s Conte Forum. The win earns them a date with the Eagles, after No. 10 BC defeated No. 6 Harvard University, 4-3, in triple overtime in the late game.
Last night’s victory means the Terriers (16-9-3, 7-7-2 Hockey East) will play in the tournament final for the first time since 1982, when they lost to Harvard, 2-1. BU won the event in 1981 for it’s only Beanpot championship.
The struggling Huskies (3-23-2, 2-13-2), who boasted an all-time 41-15 Beanpot record and 14 titles coming into the game, played better in the first period than their current record would suggest.
NU opened the scoring just 2:47 into the contest with a lucky goal from forward Missy Elumba. The sophomore right winger fired a slapshot from the near circle that ricocheted off BU goaltender Allyse Wilcox and into the air, only to land behind the sophomore’s left shoulder and into the back of the net.
“I’ve had the worst luck in the world, lately,” said Wilcox, who allowed 10 goals in her previous two starts against No. 5 University of New Hampshire and No. 10 BC. She finished with 28 saves to earn her first victory since Dec. 29.
“Allyse getting a ‘W’ changes everyone’s mindset,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “She’s an all-star goalie and a big part of our team. BC and UNH can make a lot of goalies look average.”
Wilcox’s struggles — or bad luck — continued at 6:01, when Huskies’ captain Amy Goodney ripped home a rebound following a Nikki Petrich breakaway bid. Wilcox made an impressive low-pad save to stifle Petrich but failed to gather herself in time for Goodney, who was flying in toward Wilcox’s stick-side.
The early deficit was reminiscent of last Saturday’s game between the teams at Matthews Arena, when NU took a 3-0 lead into the third period but failed to maintain the advantage.
“My thoughts were with last Saturday,” Durocher said. “In many ways, it unfolded in the same way. We weren’t quite there in the first period. [Northeastern] played extremely well.”
“[Saturday’s game] helped because we knew [Northeastern] was gonna dig deep,” said sophomore forward Erin Seman. “We needed the extra effort because they were gunning for us.”
This time, however, the Terriers began their comeback effort in the second period instead of the third. BU halved the Husky lead at 8:03 on a Sarah Appleton shot from the blue line that deflected off senior co-captain Cara Hendry and into the net for BU’s only power-play tally of the game. Hendry was screening NU goaltender Sydney Arbelbide (13 saves) on the play.
For the second time in four days, Northeastern took a lead into the third period against the Terriers. And once again, the Huskies yielded the advantage without much resistance.
Just 1:20 into the session, BU freshman Melissa Anderson won a draw in the NU end and made a fine centering pass to forward Gina Kearns. The sophomore co-captain collected the puck between the circles and dashed toward Arbelbide, faking left before firing in a righty wristshot to tie the game, 2-2.
BU’s growing momentum peaked at 14:13, thanks to a go-ahead score from Seman, who notched her team-leading 15th goal of the season. Following an Appleton shot from the near circle, Anderson directed the rebound in front of the net toward Seman, who backhanded the game-winning goal high over Arbelbide’s right shoulder.
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Seman said. “I didn’t get much on [the shot], but it went it in — it counts.”
“It looked like [Arbelbide] was caught off to the side,” Durocher said. “Erin did a nice job chipping it in the far side of the net.”
The Terriers solidified their spot in next Tuesday’s title game with an empty-net goal from defenseman Julie Poulin at 18:59.
For certain players, the impending matchup against the Eagles adds even more meaning to the tournament final. BC has outscored BU, 11-2, en route to a pair of victories at Conte this season, while BU beat BC on Jan. 19 at Walter Brown Arena to notch its first win over a ranked opponent.
“We’d all like to see BC again,” Wilcox said.