Coming off an 8-0 massacre at the hands of Harvard University that jettisoned the team to the Beanpot consolation game, the Boston University women’s hockey squad will return to conference play this weekend with a home-and-home series against the No. 9 University of Connecticut.
‘Our mentality is only affected slightly by the fact that we’re not turning the light on a whole bunch of times,’ BU coach Brian Durocher said of his team’s inability to score against Harvard. ‘You throw that game out the window because I think that was our bad game for the year.’
The action against UConn (18-8-2, 10-6-0 Hockey East) kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. at the Mark Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs, Conn. The teams will then head north for a rematch Saturday at 3 p.m. at Walter Brown Arena.
‘Clearly, this is a big pair of games to swing the pendulum in our favor,’ Durocher said.
The Huskies shut the Terriers (13-10-5, 10-6-0) out in the teams’ last meeting on Jan. 10 in Storrs. In that game, Connecticut senior netminder Brittany Wilson thwarted BU’s offense, stopping all 31 pucks that the Terriers sent her way.
Junior forward Dominique Thibault put the Huskies up with a goal in the second period. Freshman forward Monique Weber added two more insurance scores in the stanza, making the final 3-0. The Terriers outshot the Huskies, 31-19, in the game.
Durocher attributed that loss to the fact that the Terriers ‘didn’t turn the light on, didn’t change the momentum and didn’t ever put [the Huskies] on their heels.’
Thibault has been an offensive juggernaut all year. Her current mark of 24 goals on the season leads all Hockey East players, while her 36 total points are second most in the conference.
‘She’s a tough matchup,’ Durocher said of Thibault. ‘We try to use our feet to stay between her and the net.’
Meanwhile, Wilson owns the third-best goals-against average among Hockey East goaltenders with a 1.74 mark.
The Huskies split their series with Providence College this past weekend, losing in Providence, 5-1, last Saturday, but recovering Sunday to claim a 2-1 overtime victory at home. The Huskies now occupy the fourth-place slot in the conference standings.
The Terriers look to recover from their broken Beanpot dreams. Nothing went right for the Terriers on Tuesday, as Harvard attacked with two goals in each of the first two periods, then opened the floodgates with a four-goal volley in the final frame. Senior goaltender Allyse Wilcox occupied the net for about 50 minutes of the game, allowing the first six Crimson goals.
BU junior goalie Melissa Haber has gotten more starting nods recently for BU, and has answered the call with superb play. She leads the conference with a 1.68 goals-against average in 607:02 minutes played. Hockey East named Haber this week’s Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week after her 23-save shutout of Vermont last Saturday.
The Terriers currently sit fifth in Hockey East’s standings, but could climb to the top with a combination of success and luck for the rest of the regular season category. They trail the first-place University of New Hampshire by three points. BU still has five Hockey East games left on the schedule.
Durocher, however, is taking a one-game-at-a-time mentality.
‘These are major swing games with UConn,’ Durocher said. ‘We can really put ourselves in a position where we have a chance to finish ahead of them in the standings.’
BU’s remaining regular season schedule then features a matchup with BC, followed by a home-and-home series against Northeastern before the Hockey East playoffs commence on Feb. 28.
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