The No. 6 Boston University women's hockey team is predicted to repeat as Hockey East champions in their sixth season as a varsity team. In order to do so, they will first need to figure out who will be guarding the goal for the rest of the season.
In Saturday's preseason win over the University of Windsor, BU coach Brian Durocher, a former Terrier netminder himself, played all three of his goalies for one period each.
Sophomore Alissa Fromkin played the first period, giving up a goal 1:21 into the game. She also had six saves. Taking on the second period and gaining the win was freshman Kerrin Sperry, who did not give up any goals and made eight saves. Freshman Braly Hiller finished the game with five saves.
"I think my early thoughts are that Kerrin and Alissa Fromkin will have a chance to probably rotate for a little while," Durocher said. "Now, that can change if somebody just completely steps forward in practice, but that's a work in progress. We have to make sure that they get comfortable and they get an opportunity. Braly did a real nice job, had a couple of nice saves in the third period, so I was real happy to see that."
Fromkin is the only player from this group who has experience with the Terriers. She played eight games a year ago, going 2-1-4 with a 2.60 goals-against-average and a .883 save percentage. She also earned HE Rookie of the Week honors after making 20 saves in a win against the University of Maine in February.
Sperry spent the last four years playing at Lawrence Academy in Groton. In her senior season, she was named to the All-Independent School League First Team and won the team's Most Valuable Player award. She was also part of the team that won the 2010 USA Hockey Girls' 19 &' Under National Championship.
Hiller was captain of her team at Tabor Academy in Marion during her senior season.
Durocher is looking to see who will step up out of these three athletes. Thus, it will be on each of them to play their best to get the starting spot.
"It's hard to put three people into one spot and give them confidence and make them feel a part of it," Durocher said. "We may go in that direction to start. I like to have them kind of make the decision."
Last season, the netminder for the team was Melissa Haber, a 2010 graduate who played 66 games with the Terriers over the course of four years. She was 31-18-14 with a 2.27 GAA and a .913 save percentage. As a junior, Haber set single-season BU records with a 1.64 GAA and a .928 save percentage. The 2009-10 season was the first time Haber garnered full-time goalie duties, and she rose to the challenge with a .921 save percentage and three shutouts.
During her senior season, Haber earned several awards.
She was named the MVP for the HE Tournament after making 25 saves in the championship game. She was also named the Women's HE Defensive Player of the Week, the runner-up HE Goalie of the Month in November, named to the HE All-Academic Team and was part of the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge. Haber and teammate Melissa Anderson shared the MVP award for the team.
It will be a challenge to fill Haber's position, and it appears that Fromkin and Sperry will be competing for the number-one spot. The result will all depend on how well each player practices and performs in the beginning of the season.</p>
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