For the first time in the program’s three-year history, the Boston University women’s hockey team will play in the Hockey East playoffs.
Coming into the final weekend of the season a point ahead of Boston College in the standings, the Terriers needed to match points with the Eagles to guarantee a playoff spot.
BU (15-16-3, 11-9-1 HE) stepped up to the challenge and clinched a playoff berth Saturday with a 2-0 win over Northeastern University (7-24-3, 6-14-1 HE) at Walter Brown Arena, and clocked-out on the regular season with a 3-2 victory over the Huskies at Matthews Arena on Sunday.
Fourth-seeded BU will face the No. 2 University of New Hampshire March 8 at the University of Connecticut’s Freitas Ice Forum.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said junior co-captain Gina Kearns. “I’ve been here for three years. Each year we’ve gotten a little better. We started off in the bottom of the league, last year we missed the playoffs by four points and this year we’re just getting over the hump. I’m proud of everyone in the locker room. It’s great to finally make the playoffs for our seniors.”
Before Saturday’s game, the Terriers knew BC had beaten Providence College on Friday night and that the Eagles were tied with the Friars, 2-2, in the third period. Since the Eagles went on to tie Saturday, the Terriers’ first victory was enough to clinch a playoff spot.
BU stormed out of the gate Saturday, dominating Northeastern in every facet of the game. The Terriers never let the Huskies set up in the offensive zone – their defense moved the puck out of the zone with ease and their forwards kept the puck in the NU end for long stretches, creating scoring chances.
By the end of the first period BU had outshot NU 22-4, including 10 quality scoring chances in front of the net. Freshman goaltender Leah Sulyma was the only reason BU was held to one goal in the period.
The Terriers’ second line of freshmen Lauren Cherewyk and Holly Lorms and sophomore Melissa Anderson, which was on the ice for both goals of the game, set the tempo for the period by playing with relentless speed through all three zones. The line created scoring chances off the rush and continually crashed the net to collect rebounds.
The pressure finally got to Sulyma at 12:48 of the first. Anderson won a draw in the offensive zone and passed back to sophomore defensemen Sarah Appleton. Appleton then drove down along the boards and sent a centering pass to the middle. Anderson deflected the pass, which bounced around in the crease before Cherewyk knocked it home for the first goal.
“It was more of a hardworking goal than anything,” Cherewyk said. “It just went off a couple skates. We’ll take it. A goal’s a goal.”
Cherewyk replaced freshman Jillian Kirchner on the second line. Kirchner, who is third on the team with 22 points, sustained a lower-body injury Friday and is questionable for next weekend’s playoff matchup against UNH.
“She’s probably on the south side of 50-50 for being back for next weekend, unfortunately,” Durocher said. “She’s got an injury that seems to have a two-week window, but if your pain threshold and a little bit of good fortune goes your way, you might be able to find your way back in five or six days.”
By the second period, the Terriers knew BC had tied and that they needed a win to get in.
“I said, ‘Look, we need one hockey win to get in the playoffs,'” Durocher said. “I hope that’s enough motivation to get you light on your feet, a little zip in your legs and get going. I made sure they knew and asked them for a little bit more.”
The game settled down in the second period. NU drew three penalties and cut the Terriers’ shot advantage to 10-9. Anderson, who has five goals in the last three games, added an insurance goal four minutes into the third with an assist from Lorms.
With a playoff spot locked up, sophomore goaltender Melissa Haber made her first start since Jan. 27 in Sunday’s 3-2 win over NU, and finished with 21 saves. Anderson notched BU’s first goal 4:53 into the second to tie the score at one, with assists from Cherewyk and junior Kelley Karnan.
With the Terriers down 2-1 in the third, junior Julie Poulin scored at 15:00 with assists from junior Caroline Bourdeau and sophomore Jonnie Bloemers. With less than three minutes left, junior Laurel Koller scored the game-winner on an assist from Kearns.
“Now you have a three-game winning streak and you’re feeling good about yourself,” Durocher said. “Positive things are happening for the team. It’s still going to be a huge task to deal with the University of New Hampshire. They’re a phenomenal team, but we’ve played pretty good games against them all three times.”