As rare as hat tricks are, freshman center Holly Lorms was given several chances to earn the first in her college career, but she unselfishly passed up the opportunity to set up her teammates.
Lorms led the Terriers with two goals in a 6-1 rout over Quinnipiac University last night and nearly scored a third on an open net, but instead passed the puck to linemate junior Laurel Koller, who got the assist on Lorms’ second goal of the night.
“Holly had a great game,” said junior captain Gina Kearns. “It’s nice to see her to get on the board. I told her whatever she did last night she needs to do every night.”
“I had Coach in my ear saying, ‘Shoot the puck, shoot the puck,’ so I figured I’d shoot the puck and see what happens,” Lorms said.
BU’s second line of Lorms, Koller and freshman Lauren Cherewyk played well in helping the Terriers to a win after going down 1-0 after the first. The second line helped settle things after the shaky opening period by establishing a more aggressive forecheck, getting back on defense and most importantly, putting pucks on net.
“Coach Langlais and Coach Mathews made some change on our forecheck where they sent two people over to the puck and left someone in front of the net,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “I think in Holly Lorms’s goal it worked out well where we were able to use our two players . . . and they were right there to put them in the cage.”
Lorms struck first at 4:49 of the second period when Cherewyk passed to sophomore Sarah Appleton, who was able to slide a nice pass through traffic to set up Lorms in front of the net. Lorms skated into the low slot and lifted a backhander over Bobcat goaltender freshman Jamie Miller into the top corner to tie the game at one.
“Our forecheck was a little shaky in the first period but once we started to get going we started to sustain pressure in their end and it showed,” Lorms said. “Our line had a couple of nice opportunities in front of the net.”
More than just tying the score, the goal shifted the momentum in the Terriers’ favor. Lorms’s first goal was the first of six unanswered. BU controlled the pace of the game after the first period and got plenty of pucks on net, outshooting the Bobcats, 43-17, by the end of the night.
“Coach talked about picking up our pace and I think we did,” Lorms said. “We didn’t play bad, we just didn’t have the bounces going our way. Coach said keep going to the net and this goalie will give up a few, and lo and behold she gave up a few.”
The second line struck again at 8:28 of the second when Koller passed the puck along the boards to Cherewyk in the corner. After drawing the Bobcats defense out of position, Cherewyk made a tape-to-tape pass to Lorms, who was sitting by herself in front of the net. She banged the puck home for her second goal of the night to make it 3-1.
Lorms’ best chance for the hat trick came late in the third period when the Bobcats pulled Miller and were skating six-on-five. Lorms was carrying the puck up through the neutral zone with Koller to her right with only one defender in her way. Instead of taking the shot from outside the zone, Lorms passed it ahead to Koller but she couldn’t settle the puck.
It was a fitting end to the night. Lorms played well by scoring two goals, but it was her teammates who made both scores possible, so it was only fair for her to try and return the favor.
“Holly’s a real accomplished player who can play center or wing,” Durocher said. “She’s shown in short order that she can possess the puck, she can score goals and she’s a strong kid as well. She’s being well supported by Laurel Koller, who I think is playing fantastic three-zone hockey, playing strong and looks like she’s in the best shape of her life. And Lauren Cherewyk is the pace-setter of that line.”
