Last Tuesday night, Boston University women’s hockey freshman forward Jenelle Kohanchuk, still feeling the effects of a bout with mononucleosis, could do nothing but watch from the stands as the Terriers dropped their Beanpot opener, 8-0, to Harvard.
Last night, in the Beanpot consolation game, Kohanchuk played and made her presence felt.
Missing from the Terriers’ lineup since her last appearance on Jan. 18, one would expect it to take a while for Kohanchuk to get her legs back, never mind her scoring touch. However, despite participating in only one practice before last night’s game, it didn’t take long for the freshman from Winnipeg, Manitoba to score her first career Beanpot goal on a wraparound 14 minutes into the first period. She added her second point on an assist to senior defenseman Sarah Russell for the game-winning goal with 57 seconds to go in the third.
Kohanchuk even caught herself a little off guard with the way she played in her first Beanpot appearance.
‘I was actually pretty surprised. I didn’t think I would do as well as I did,’ Kohanchuk said. ‘After only having one week to get back on the ice and in shape, I’m pretty impressed with my performance.’
BU head coach Brian Durocher was also pleased with how his freshman returned last night.
‘Obviously, it was a big boost for us,’ Durocher said. ‘I think it was great that she got two points on the first night out because sometimes you come back and bounces don’t go your way. All of a sudden, you start thinking about how you feel. She got a little tired at one point, but rallied in the end there. We kind of double-shifted her in the end with Melissa Anderson. It was huge to get us a goal and an assist. So good for her and good for us. Happy to have her back.’
However, just as Kohanchuk and the rest of the BU freshman class began their Beanpot careers, Russell and the senior class played in their final Beanpot contests.
For Russell, her last game was made memorable by her last-minute heroics. As the clock signaled one minute to go in the final period, Russell entered the BU offensive zone on a two-on-one break with Kohanchuk. Youth connected with experience as Kohanchuk was able to feed Russell, whose slap shot squeaked by the pads of Northeastern freshman goalie Florence Schelling, who had played phenomenally in net for the 59 minutes before Russell’s shot trickled in.
Although a win in the consolation game is not necessarily finishing one’s career on the highest of notes, or with the loudest of bangs, these seniors still have plenty to hang their hats on.
‘We had a tough week last week, and we really wanted to rebound, especially as seniors,’ Russell said. ‘We’ve never come in fourth in the Beanpot in our four years, so that was good for us.’
The Terriers refuse to dwell on the past for too long, however, with the top seeds in the Hockey East playoffs still up for grabs, and three games against conference rivals (vs. Boston College and a home-and-home against Northeastern) still to play.
‘These last three games are huge games for us,’ Russell said. ‘We could finish pretty high in the conference if we take care of business.’
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