When the Boston University women’s hockey team power play unit is working at the top of its game, it has the ability to keep the team competitive with elite squads. However, the power play has been inconsistent all season, and when it fails to produce, the Terriers fail to score goals. When it’s converting on the man-advantage, BU makes for a threatening opponent.
In Sunday’s home loss to the No. 8 University of Connecticut at Walter Brown Arena, BU used two consecutive power-play opportunities to even what had been a 2-0 UConn advantage. The Terriers went on to drop the important conference matchup, but the re-ignition of a potent power play gives BU reason to believe the offense will produce goals in front of goaltender Allyse Wilcox down the stretch.
At the end of the first period, junior co-captain Gina Kearns and sophomore Melissa Anderson worked a clean give-and-go on the man-advantage that cut the Huskies’ lead to 2-1. The pair used the open space on the ice wisely — precisely what the team needs to do on special teams.
Halfway through the second period, the Terriers were still searching for the game-tying goal when they went back on the man-advantage. This time it was a pair of freshman — Jillian Kirchner and Lauren Cherewyk — that teamed up on the power play. Kirchner carved through the Huskies’ defense to find open room and passed the puck through the crease to Cherewyk, who one-timed the Terriers back into the game.
If the power play continues to work for BU, it will be a huge factor in the upcoming weekend series against Boston College.
Scoring Threats
As the Terriers come down to the final stretch of the regular season, it is becoming clear that they play a much more team-oriented style of hockey than the majority of their opponents. While many skaters have stepped up lately to create their own scoring chances (Kirchner, Anderson and Kearns specifically), BU does not possess a dominant scorer who can take over a game.
That type of playmaking ability was on display this weekend, as the Terriers watched Huskies’ sophomore Dominique Thibault propel her team to a sweep of the season series. The winger has a great skill set, and at 5-foot-10, is one of the tallest players BU will face all season. Thibault played a part in every UConn goal last weekend, tallying a pair of goals and four helpers in two games, bringing her season totals to 20 goals and 21 assists.
With BU hunting for a game-tying goal late in the third period Sunday, Thibault took a pass from just over the blue line and fired a laser over Allyse Wilcox’s left shoulder to ice the contest. The combination of accuracy and power on her shot is rivaled by few players.
“Not many kids are going to get that last goal,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “That was dead-on down the middle, and she put a bomb right up under the crossbar. I think we have to clap our hands for that one, for her, that she’s able to put those types of shots in that spot.”
Hockey East is loaded with athletes of Thibault’s caliber. BC has Kelli Stack (17 goals, 15 assists) and Deb Spillane (11, 19), the University of New Hampshire has Sam Faber (21, 21) and Jenn Wakefield (20, 15) and Providence College boasts Kathleen Smith (14, 14). BU will need to continue playing its own brand of team-oriented hockey to compete in the final two weekends of the regular season and into the playoffs.
Updates on the Playoff Race
Four of the eight teams in Hockey East qualify for the playoffs, and BU finds itself in a heated battle with BC for the fourth and final spot. With two weekend series’ remaining for both teams, the race is sure to come down to the wire.
The Terriers currently sit one point ahead of the Eagles, but with a home-and-home series looming next weekend, there is plenty left to be decided. While BU failed to pick up a point against UConn this weekend, BC struggled in two games with the University of Maine but came away with an overtime victory Sunday to tighten the race.
“We let four points get away [against UConn], and there’s four points up for grabs against BC,” Kearns said. “We have a chance to separate ourselves from them next weekend. I expect us to step up.”
BU, which has won both meetings this season, would secure a playoff spot with a sweep of the Eagles. In the final weekend of the season, the Terriers face sixth-place Northeastern University for two games, while BC takes on third-place Providence College.