Confidence. It was the word Boston University women’s hockey coach Brian Durocher used when asked what his team needed most for a successful season.
‘We need to start to believe that we can be an upper level team,’ Durocher said before the start of the year.
In Saturday’s gritty 3-2 comeback win over No. 9 Mercyhurst College, the Terriers believed.
‘Today might be a little bit of a confidence boost,’ Durocher said Saturday. ‘We can close the deal ‘-‘- we can finish and get the job done.’
The Terriers’ weekend double-feature at Walter Brown Arena against Mercyhurst was a test of confidence. BU had to go toe-to-toe with a team ranked fifth in the nation heading into Friday’s series opener, hoping to reverse last year’s trend of losing close games against superior opponents.
Saturday’s win breathed life into a team Durocher said needed to ‘get over the hump’ and beat a top program. After three seasons of close losses to nationally ranked foes, the women proved to themselves they can get it done against the NCAA’s best.
The contrast between Friday’s loss and Saturday’s win seemed to represent where BU has been, and where it hopes to be headed.
Friday’s 4-2 loss was a frustrating setback for the Terriers. They hung with the Lakers for the majority of the game, deadlocked in a 2-2 tie for the first two periods, but the Lakers penetrated the BU defense in the third period. They scored two goals, including one that ricocheted off a BU player’s helmet before sailing through the posts. The BU offense failed to capitalize on several third-period scoring opportunities, and the Terriers were defeated.’
For Durocher and his team, the loss seemed to be a continuation of a past marked by ‘almosts’ against upper-echelon teams. The women have struggled to build a convincing reputation over their first three seasons as a Division-I program. Despite several hopeful efforts last year in which the Terriers stayed in games against top teams, they were never able to ‘close the deal,’ Durocher said.’ ‘ ‘
Saturday, the Terriers finally closed the deal in a rematch against Mercyhurst. The Lakers are the highest-ranked team BU has ever beaten, and the win could prove to be a turning point in the program’s history.
Mercyhurst pulled ahead with two goals at the beginning of the first period, inspiring a heated intermission speech from Durocher. Junior forward Jonnie Bloemers and sophomore forward Jillian Kirchner, who netted crucial goals in the third period, said it was the first time they had seen their coach get that angry.
Durocher’s speech worked. BU outshot the Lakers 33-16 and held Mercyhurst scoreless during the second and third periods. The effort culminated with two quick goals by Kirchner and senior Erin Seman to tie the game early in the third period. Bloemers then put the Terriers ahead with 2:38 left.’
‘They [won] in fashion,’ Durocher said, ‘because they did it in a pretty darn good last period where maybe you could say we dominated a little bit and controlled the play on the ice.’
‘Dominated’ has never been a word used to describe the Terriers’ performance against top teams, but after this weekend, it might be used a little more frequently. They will take confidence away from their landmark performance, hoping to use it to build a landmark season.
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