The No. 8 Boston University women’s hockey team plays host to the No. 3 University of New Hampshire Wildcats on Friday at 7 p.m. at Walter Brown Arena.
The Terriers (3-2-4, 1-1-0 HE) are looking to get back to their winning ways after a 2-1 loss at the hands of Commonwealth Avenue rival Boston College. UNH (7-1-2, 3-0-0) has started the season strong, with its lone loss coming against Clarkson University, a team BU also lost to.
‘New Hampshire is clearly right up there with the one, two or three teams we’ve played,’ BU coach Brian Durocher said. ‘They got tradition on their side. They got that little bit of confidence that goes with being a successful team over the years.’
While the Wildcats have an impressive resume this season, their record is somewhat deceiving. All of their wins have come at home, while they have struggled on the road going 0-1-1. BU has been far from dominant at home (1-1-2), but has the opportunity to defeat the highest-ranked opponent in the history of the program.
‘They’re not as deep and as talented as maybe they have been in the past three to five years,’ Durocher said. ‘We’re going to have to go out and really take it one shift at a time, one period at a time, and try to win that shift or win that period and all of a sudden good things will probably add up.’
Offensively, the Terriers have been led by sophomore forward Jenelle Kohanchuck, who is second in the nation with eight goals. Behind Kohanchuck, freshman Jill Cardella has tallied four goals of her own, while senior Melissa Anderson leads the team with six assists.
Senior goaltender Melissa Haber has struggled statistically this season. Her 2.76 goals-against average and .892 save percentage both rank 10th overall among Hockey East goalies. These disappointing numbers can be attributed to the high frequency of shots she has seen this season. While her numbers aren’t stunning, with the exception of one game, she has continued to keep games close.
In order to be successful against a team with the skill caliber of New Hampshire, BU must come out of the locker room with a strong sense of determination, which they did not have Monday night.
‘I think that unfortunately Boston College was just a little bit more determined on Monday night and that’s probably the only disappointment in my mind,’ Durocher said. ‘You cannot control offense all the time. A goaltender makes a good save, you hit a post, a couple of shots are just wide — it’s a game of inches and a little bit of luck. But your determination and your work ethic are things you can control to some extent. I hope we bring a little bit more of that determination against New Hampshire.’
While the team’s determination has been inconsistent this season, what has been consistent is its struggle to kill power plays. The Terriers have a league worst 71.1 percent penalty kill, which does not bode well considering New Hampshire leads Hockey East with 33.3 percent success rate on power play, and in power play goals.
The Terriers play in third periods has cost them at least two maybe even three or four wins this season. They have given up nine third period goals, while only getting only six goals for themselves.
Consistency, along with a solid penalty kill and team-wide determination, are the keys Friday night as BU searches for its most impressive victory in the history of BU’s women’s hockey program. All that stands in the way is a potent UNH offense that averages 3.5 goals per game and defense, which ranks second in Hockey East allowing only 1.6 goals per contest.
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