The Boston University women’s hockey team finished the regular season with two decisive victories over the University of Maine, winning 3-1 on Saturday and 2-0 on Sunday.
The weekend lifted the Terriers (14-8-12, 10-6-5-3 Hockey East) to a third-place finish in the conference rankings. They will host sixth-place Boston College in their quarterfinal game next weekend.
On Saturday, Maine (6-20-5, 3-15-3-1) scored first, registering the only goal of a relatively even first period at 17:47. The Terriers took over in the second, putting 18 shots on net to Maine’s two, and getting two key goals from senior forward and team scoring leader Melissa Anderson.
Anderson’s first tally was her fifth power-play goal of the season.
Sophomore defenseman Tara Watchorn fired a shot from the point, and the rebound first bounced to freshman forward Jill Cardella, then to Anderson, who put home the loose puck from the far side of the net.
Five minutes later, Anderson again positioned herself in front of the net, fought off Maine defenders and flipped a pass from junior forward Lauren Cherewyk out of the reach of Black Bear freshman goaltender Brittany Ott, who was caught down on the ice.
Cherewyk gave the Terriers a welcome insurance goal at 7:59 of the third period, beating Ott with a wrister from the hash marks. Anderson and sophomore defenseman Carly Warren assisted on the goal, which gave BU the momentum for the rest of the game.
“The third goal was the one, early in the year, we just couldn’t seem to get,” said BU coach Brian Durocher after the game. “Getting that third one gives you a little bit of breathing room and puts the other team into catch-up mode.”
Saturday’s victory also gave the Terriers their first winning streak of the season, after knocking off No. 9 Northeastern, 2-1, in regulation last Sunday.
“It’s nice to get a little bit of a streak, and it’s nice to have it at the end of the season,” Durocher said. “We’ve gone five, six, seven games without a loss, and we’re used to getting ties, but to have some type of positive momentum in your head going into the playoffs, that’s the best part of it.”
Anderson, Cherewyk and their linemate, Cardella, are the Terriers’ first, second and fourth leading scorers, respectively. They just began playing together as linemates a few weeks ago, but the chemistry they have developed has made them a nearly unstoppable offensive force.
“I love playing with both of them,” Anderson said of her linemates. “Lauren has one of the best shots I’ve ever seen, Cardella’s a great playmaker, and we just have so much fun together.”
“They have some interesting pieces,” Durocher said. “Lauren is one of the faster kids in college hockey and she moves the puck well. Jill Cardella is one of the smarter kids you’ll see around the game and has the ability to make passes at different speeds with a little touch on them, and Melissa Anderson’s always highly determined to get loose pucks, and strong enough to get the loose pucks. They make a good combination, and have done a good job of carrying us here for the last little while.”
The Terriers’ first line continued to produce on Sunday, as Cherewyk converted a goal-line feed from Anderson for her eleventh goal of the season, which turned out to be the game-winner.
Cherewyk’s goal came at 10:11 of the second period, halfway through one of the most physical games the Terriers have played all year. In the first period, both BU and Maine had four power plays, including a 5-on-3 apiece.
Anderson and Maine senior forward Taryn Peacock were each penalized twice in the second period, and as the buzzer sounded to end the period, the two were involved in a scuffle that ended in an interference call on Peacock and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for Anderson.
The Terriers finally capitalized on their sixth power play of the game, when senior forward Jonnie Bloemers beat Maine sophomore goaltender Candice Currier with a rising shot from near the goal line. That didn’t deter Maine from taking penalties, however: Anderson tripped up Maine senior forward Lexie Hoffmeyer, and Hoffmeyer retaliated by punching Anderson hard enough to knock her to the ice. Hoffmeyer was given a game disqualification penalty.
Despite one final chance on the power play at 12:45 of the third, Maine could not solve senior goalie Melissa Haber, who recorded her program record-breaking eighth career shutout in her final regular-season game with the Terriers.
“It felt really good,” Haber said. “I never go out there thinking, “I’m going to have a shutout,’ or “I need a shutout,’ but of course I secretly want it. So it really couldn’t be better.”