This is the second in a three-part series examing club sports at Boston University.
When the second period ended on Monday night, players on the Boston University women’s club ice hockey team skated off the rink at Walter Brown Arena happy with their 4-2 lead over Harvard University’s junior varsity team.
BU had played a solid game to that point, dominating possession and limiting Harvard’s scoring opportunities.
The third period was a different story, however, as the team looked sluggish at times and allowed Harvard to control the puck better than it had all game. The Crimson scored twice in the final frame, sending a game the Terriers thought they would win into overtime.
For the BU women’s club ice hockey team, Monday’s 4-4 tie against Harvard’s JV paralleled the progress of the club’s much-anticipated transition to the varsity level.
BU knew it could win the game, but it just seemed to be lacking experience near the end.
Similarly, the program has the necessary leadership and appears ready to make the jump, but it just needs a little more time.
Chris Daigle, the club’s advisor for the past five years and the assistant coordinator of Intramural and Club Sports for BU’s Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, said girls around the country have heard about the program’s possible elevation and have expressed interest in playing for BU if and when it happens.
‘It’s the rumor all over the Division I scene, all over the country,’ Daigle said. ‘I literally have girls calling me from all over the country saying, ‘I heard you’re going to go varsity. When are you going to go varsity?”
Even without the official varsity billing as of yet, Daigle said the club, which has been playing since 1973, still competes at a high level. The women practice three or four times a week and play about 25 games a season, which runs from October until March. They participate in the Women’s Beanpot every February with Boston College, Northeastern University and Harvard all Division I programs. At the end of the season, the team can qualify for two postseason tournaments one held by its league, the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association, and one held by the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
‘I would say it’s as close to a varsity status as you can get without having the varsity title,’ Daigle said.
Daigle also said the players themselves have helped give the team a varsity-like feel, as their talent and commitment levels have increased over years.
The players have been able to learn about the commitment necessary to compete at the Division I level from their coach, Kerstin Matthews, who played and captained four years at Providence College. Matthews, in her first season standing behind the BU bench, said she wants to help the players as much as she can.
‘I want to bring them my experience,’ Matthews said. ‘For me, I want to give them hockey knowledge as well as help the girls individually.’
One of the team’s co-captains, Erine Sato, a junior forward who has been playing hockey for 11 years, said Matthews has made an immediate impact on a team that never had a coach of Matthews’ caliber.
‘This is the first time that it’s actually felt like a real team,’ Sato said after scoring three goals and adding an assist against Harvard. ‘I definitely notice a difference. It’s somebody who’s been through the exact same process as we’ve been through.
‘She knows how to push people,’ Sato continued. ‘She’s very good at adjusting with each player.’
Matthews said she was disappointed with team’s tie with Harvard, but she said the season is still young and the team has plenty of time to improve.
‘It’s a long season,’ Matthews said. ‘I’d rather get the kinks out now.’
One man who can agree with Matthews’ thinking is Jack Parker, the head coach of BU’s men’s hockey team and the school’s executive director of the Athletics Department. Parker said he has noticed the club’s recent improvement.
‘From seeing where they are right now, there’s a lot more enthusiasm and excitement on the ice,’ Parker said.
And after what Parker said about the Athletic Department’s plans for the program’s future, the enthusiasm and excitement should extend off the ice and throughout the campus.
‘We’re going to do everything we can to elevate the women’s team to the varsity level,’ he said. ‘The tentative plan is that we will get [Agganis Arena] done next December or January, and the following year, we will move them to varsity.’
Parker added that the team would probably struggle in its first few seasons, but BU’s storied hockey tradition and new facilities would certainly help the team recruit talented players.
‘I think [women’s hockey] will get to the point where it should be very competitive on the varsity level,’ Parker said.
Sato, who said the team is most competitive in the Women’s Beanpot against Division I teams, said she would love to see the move to varsity happen, even if she will not be around to experience it.
‘Apparently, it will happen right after I graduate in two years,’ the junior said between laughs. ‘It’s about time. Kerstin would be a great coach.’
Matthews, who said she has a full-time job in ‘corporate America,’ runs a hockey school on top of her volunteer coaching duties at BU. While she said a varsity women’s hockey team would be great for BU, Matthews would not give a definitive answer when asked if she would coach a future varsity team. She did, however, make it clear that she loves hockey.
‘I’m on the ice seven days a week,’ Matthews said. ‘Hockey is my passion. If I could make money in hockey, I would be crazy not to.’
With a little less than three minutes to play in regulation of Monday’s game, Matthews watched as Sato pulled her team together and told them to keep their heads in a game that looked as if it was slipping away.
‘We tend to start breaking down in the third period,’ Sato said. ‘I just said, ‘You know, one goal is nothing.”
The game ventured into overtime, where the junior forward who had already netted a hat-trick tired to pull one more from her sleeve when she stormed the Crimson net and was bumped by a defender. The referees awarded Sato a penalty shot and an opportunity to win.
BU should have beaten Harvard, but like its coach said, this is a young group. The team had the lead and looked to be cruising to a victory, before it stalled in the third period. Leaders like Matthews and Sato did their best to pull out the win.
Likewise, the women’s club ice hockey team looks to be on its way to gain varsity status. Parker and the Athletic Department appear ready to give the program its chance to play at the highest level, so it will be up to the players themselves to capitalize on that opportunity.
Sato skated with purpose toward the Harvard goalie on her penalty shot, made a move to the left, switched right and put the puck toward the net.
The puck hit the right post, then the left post, and sat just in front of the goal line.
‘The ref came up to me afterward and said, ‘That will never happen again in your life,” Sato said.
Sato went back to the bench with head down, but Matthews was there to pat her on the helmet.
‘She was like, ‘Good job, kiddo,’ so she knew what was going through my head.’
They were both probably thinking, ‘If given the opportunity in the future, we won’t miss.’