Terrier senior forward and co-captain Gina Kearns became the first Boston University women’s hockey player ever to amass 100 career points after assisting on sophomore linemate Jillian Kirchner’s goal in the first period Sunday against Northeastern.
‘Steady, consistent, very, very accountable all the time. Those are the things that come to mind,’ BU coach Brian Durocher said of Kearns and her collegiate career. ‘I’m real happy for her, and proud of her success, that she’s been able to be that first person to get 100 points. It’s a great college milestone.’
Kearns reached the 100-point plateau in the final regular-season game of her fourth season with BU. It came shortly after she and the team’s other nine seniors were honored at Walter Brown Arena before the game.
Kearns didn’t sit at the landmark long ‘-‘- she netted her 14th goal of the season later in the first frame for the 101st point and 49th goal of her career.
Kearns has posted four solid seasons for the Terriers, clocking 27, 26 and 24 points, respectively, in her freshman, sophomore and junior years. This season, she has posted 24 points on 14 goals and 10 assists. Her career assist total now stands at 52.’
Program keeps improving
BU (17-10-7, 14-6-1 Hockey East) will try to ride its current wave of success into the Hockey East playoffs, which start Saturday against Northeastern University at Walter Brown Arena.
‘I’m very proud of the young ladies,’ Durocher said. ‘They’ve continued to escalate their standing in Hockey East from sixth to fifth to fourth to the highest spot in third place.’
With their third place finish in Hockey East, the Terriers have attained their highest playoff seed yet, and have also amassed the second winning record in four years at the NCAA Division-I level.
This third-place standing caps off a variety of firsts that the Terriers have accumulated after a four-season span of resume-building. BU has been something of a Rocky Balboa to the league ‘-‘- starting off with a few rough years, earning a spot in the conference playoffs for the first time last winter, and earning their first-ever national ranking this year.
They ranked as high as fourth in the country this season, and now head into the conference tournament not as an underdog, but as one of the teams to beat.’ ‘ ‘
‘It’s another real nice accomplishment, and another steady climb up the level of success,’ Durocher said.
Kohanchuk named Rookie of Week
In a weekend dedicated to Terrier seniors, plenty of the spotlight was saved for a newer member of the women’s hockey squad.
Freshman forward Jenelle Kohanchuk was named this week’s Women’s Hockey East Mission Rookie of the Week on Monday after stellar performances in the Terriers’ annihilation of Northeastern in the two weekend games. It is the fourth time Kohanchuk has received the honor this season.
‘She’s had an outstanding rookie season,’ Durocher said. ‘I think she’s going to be one of the top people for the Rookie of the Year award in Hockey East.’
Kohanchuk has made heads turn all year, but this week’s award comes in the midst of one of her hottest stretches. After being sidelined with illness for a few weeks, Kohanchuk has tortured opponents with multi-point efforts in each of her first four games back. She notched two assists in each win over Northeastern this past weekend.’
Kohanchuk leads Hockey East rookies with 1.08 points per game, and her 28 total points tie her with junior forward Melissa Anderson for the team lead.
‘It’s been fantastic for herself and her confidence, but also for the team, having some success here down the stretch,’ Durocher said of Kohanchuk’s rookie season.
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