The Boston University women’s ice hockey team would like nothing more than an offensive explosion in its final game before Winter Break.

By all accounts, Sacred Heart University should be more than willing to accommodate the Terriers Saturday afternoon at Walter Brown Arena.

The Pioneers (6-10-0) have been kind to opposing offenses all season long, allowing 6.33 goals per contest. Naturally, the team has been on the wrong end of some lopsided affairs. Through 16 games, the club has allowed more than five goals on 10 occasions. In two losses to the University of Maine and another to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Pioneers yielded 10 or more goals in each contest.

The lone independent team in Division I, Sacred Heart has gone winless against RPI (two games), University of Vermont (two games) and Union College (four games) on the season. In contrast, the Terriers (10-6-1, 3-5-1 Hockey East) hold a 7-0-0 overall mark against those three teams.

‘We have to take them as seriously as anyone on our schedule,’ said BU coach Brian Durocher. ‘It’s going to be difficult to simply turn on the switch when we need it. They are a well-coached team with some kids that can sting you.’

But will the prospect of Winter Break creep into the team’s mindset? Durocher hopes not.

‘There are a lot of things on [the players’] minds this time of year, like exams and vacations,’ he said. ‘But we need to be able to stay on task and take care of business.’

Despite the struggles, Sacred Heart is currently riding a two-game winning streak after defeating Trinity College and Connecticut College in the last week. In fact, the streaky Pioneers opened the season by winning four consecutive games before dropping 10 straight decisions.

‘The confidence gained from even a couple of wins helps any team,’ Durocher said.

Still, Sacred Heart has yet to win at an opposing venue (0-4-0). Last season, the Pioneers traveled to Babcock Street and received a 7-2 thrashing at the hands of the Terriers. BU’s goal output in the game was a season-high.

‘There was a late explosion in what was an otherwise fairly competitive hockey game,’ Durocher said in reference to last year’s meeting between the clubs.

But goals have been hard to come by for the Terriers over the last week. Despite 59 shots on goal in losses to Rhode Island foes Providence College and Brown University, the BU offense mustered only three tallies.

The Terriers’ top line of Cara Hendry, Erin Seman and Melissa Anderson continues to shoulder the offensive load on a game-by-game basis. But Durocher has faith in the secondary lines come this weekend.

‘Those other lines want to contribute and they are playing well, it’s just been difficult for them to generate offense,’ he said. ‘[Saturday] could be the game when they finally pop a few in the net.’

As of last night, Durocher had yet to name a starting goaltender for this weekend. He did say he was ‘leaning toward’ freshman Melissa Haber, who has not played since picking up her third victory of the season Nov. 26 at Union.

Fellow goaltender Stephanie Boulay has turned the net into a gaping hole for the Pioneers this season. In 11 games (10 starts), the senior has a goals-against average of 6.32 and a save percentage of .846.

Offensively, the scoring duties are handled by sophomore forwards Gina Arnone and Whitney Dziama. The pair has combined for 15 goals and 26 points this season but despite the offensive exploits, the duo stands at a combined plus/minus of -19.

After Saturday’s game, the Terriers will be off until Jan. 5-6 when the team travels to St. Cloud State University for two games.

The fact that BU has already approached last season’s win total (12) can be traced to the team’s dominance over non-league opponents (7-1-0 record). But following the series with St. Cloud State, the Terriers play their final 14 games of the year within the realm of Hockey East. Through nine conference games, BU has collected just one point against a team not named Vermont.

‘To this point I can honestly say that we’ve been competitive in every game this season, maybe with the exception of the UNH game [4-0 road loss on Oct. 29],’ Durocher said. ‘The most important aspect of the first half is that we’ve brought the shot differential to essentially nothing.’