With a faceoff about to occur, Boston University women’s hockey freshman goalie Kerrin Sperry taps the posts and focuses in on the puck. She gears up, following every move the puck makes and anticipates any potential shot.
Five wins in five starts for the Terriers is a testament to the rookie’s preparation and concentration.
“I’m pretty excited and pretty honored to play for BU, play for a great team, play for a great program under [BU coach Brian] Durocher,” Sperry said. “Every time I step out there, I’m honored. I take the opportunity and rely on my teammates a lot. They make me better in practice every day.”
Since the season began more than a month ago, Sperry has been rotating with sophomore Alissa Fromkin at the starting goalie position. However, with Fromkin recovering from a minor leg injury, Sperry has been given the chance to prove herself.
In the beginning of the month, Sperry made her first start for BU in the team’s second game of the season against University of North Dakota. Sperry had 21 saves, helping her team come away with a 6-2 win and its first win against a Western Collegiate Hockey Association team in program history. For her strong efforts in the game, Sperry was honored by Hockey East as the Defensive Player of the Week.
“My approach from the beginning was work hard and opportunities will come to me,” Sperry said. “But you know I just keep working hard and trying to do everything I can to improve and find new ways to help this team out.”
Since then, Sperry has started in four consecutive games. Her sprawling save in the second game against Wayne State University a week ago was an integral turning point in the Terrier’s win.
“That was a huge save,” Durocher said. “I think there was one right before that or right afterward as well where she kind of got a puck through a screen and got it with the bottom of her right pad and she made that save. That time it still’s anybody’s game and one goal for them and all of a sudden we’re fighting a different battle.”
Her save appeared to reenergize the team at a point when the game was tied 1-1. Within five minutes of this save, BU was leading 3-1 on goals by junior forwards Jenn Wakefield and Jenelle Kohanchuk.
Over the weekend, Sperry’s goaltending was key in winning two close games against St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University. On Friday, Sperry did not give up a goal to the Saints until 17:25 into the third period. She also had 25 saves.
“[Friday] might have been Kerrin’s best game,” Durocher said. “She made some real good saves, she was strong in there.”
On Sunday, Sperry gave up two goals and had 15 saves.
“I think Kerrin again played well,” Durocher said. “She made a couple of real good stops and kept [Clarkson] at bay.”
So far on the season, Sperry has allowed an average of 1.60 goals per game in nearly 300 minutes of work. She has a save percentage of .925 between the pipes.
“I’m just getting more comfortable,” Sperry said. “My teammates at practice every day are helping me out, giving me all types of shots that give me a look at what I’m going to be seeing in games. As I get more starts, I get more comfortable, and my teammates are there to support me. It’s a real team effort.”
Durocher, however, had more than enough praise for Sperry’s individual effort.
“This is just a continuation of what’s going on,” Durocher said. “She’s had a real good run here during all the games she’s played, and you know, I give her a lot of credit. She prepares very hard. She’s really a high-level kid as far as her fitness goes. She’s an intense kid.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
