Wilcox wills BU to tie

In a much-improved defensive performance by the Boston University women’s hockey team last night, freshman goaltender Allyse Wilcox stole the show.

Wilcox tallied an impressive 21 saves while allowing only two goals in a 2-2 tie with Quinnipiac University. It is just the most recent of three great performances by the Hockey East Rookie of the Week.

In the exhibition game against the Bluewater Hawks, Wilcox made 17 saves and allowed three goals in two periods, keeping her goals-against average at 3.00. Against Northeastern University for the regular season opener, she made 28 saves and gave up four goals. Each of the previous games were losses, but her fast progression in the young season is very encouraging for BU.

Early in the game it did not appear as if she would see many shots as both teams struggled to get past the defense. BU freshman Nicki Wiart scored the only goal of the first period off of a crafty pass from fellow freshman Laura Koller. When the Bobcats did threaten, however, Wilcox was ready to shut them down.

When Quinnipiac finally got past BU’s defenders, Wilcox made a pair of terrific pad blocks. The first shot came from the right side and she was easily able to make the routine save. Quinnipiac’s Elyse Cole grabbed the rebound and immediately shot from the left side, but Wilcox was right there for another pad save.

The Bobcats turned up the pressure in the second period, but once again Wilcox matched it. Despite giving up an early goal to freshman Jennifer Maclean and another one just after the 10-minute mark to freshman Elyse Cole, she made 11 saves in the period.

It began with glove and stick saves on Quinnipiac’s slap shots from just inside of the blue line. Her saves got better and better as the Bobcats kept testing her skills. She ended the period, however, with two absolutely incredible saves.

With the score tied at two, Quinnipiac got a couple of very good chances to score while shorthanded. BU had no defenders on the right side and Wilcox needed to stop two Quinnipiac shots on her own. Wilcox made a great stick save on the first shot, but then could not see the puck as it had rolled past her, getting closer and closer to the crease. As a pair of Bobcats raced toward the puck, Wilcox finally saw it and put her glove over it just before it broke the red line for a goal.

“It was an incredibly nerve-racking sequence,” she said.

The saves at the end of the second period were merely a prelude to what she did later.

Every shot in the final 25 minutes represented a potential go-ahead goal. But Wilcox made sure that Quinnipiac would not score for the remainder of the game. She made six saves, including four on hard slap shots. BU’s offense struggled to come alive, but Wilcox kept the Terriers in the hunt until the bitter end.

“There are going to be nights when she has to be resilient,” Durocher said. “Tonight she was there all the way through.”