After losing four games in a row, the No. 9 Boston University women’s ice hockey team proved that its resilience is one of the key factors that has kept the team alive this season.
With their most recent win against Providence College (8-9-3, 5-3-0 Hockey East) on Sunday, the Terriers earned two third period goals to come back from a 1-0 deficit and win the game 2-1.
“It’s not fun to lose. I think that’s what we all knew coming into the game and that we had to get it,” said junior forward Jill Cardella. “It didn’t look good for a while against the goalie, but we finally got [a goal].”
With Sunday’s win, the Terriers (10-8-1, 5-3-0 in Hockey East) snapped a four-game losing streak, their first such streak since Feb. 2008.
“We were pretty hardworking and pretty committed to the game right from the get go,” said BU head coach Brian Durocher of Sunday’s game. “They don’t give you an inch out there. Tonight we came out with a fight and more composure.
“All the way through the third, it was not looking as good, but we found a way and were rewarded for a lot of persistent effort. It broke up our four-game losing streak and gave us positive confidence going into the last game [of the semester] on Wednesday.”
Freshman forward Kayla Tutino scored the first power play goal with five minutes left in the final period and Cardella scored the second goal with less than two minutes left in the game on another power play.
In both games against Providence, the Terriers increased their shots as the game progressed while forcing down Providence’s shot count. Though the team was outshot 28-34 in the first game on Saturday, BU was able to make a comeback and lead the Friars by ten shots with a total of 36 on Sunday.
In a season plagued by injuries, specifically to star forwards senior Jenelle Kohanchuk and assistant captain Marie-Philip Poulin, BU has had its fair share of obstacles to overcome.
However, rather than letting the injuries keep the team’s offensive output to a minimum, it has opened up opportunities for newcomers like Tutino and junior forward Isabel Menard. Menard, who joined the team after playing two seasons at Syracuse University, is two points away from earning her 100th career point.
Both players left the game on Sunday due to minor injuries, but returned before the game’s end.
“They are both key players on our team,” Durocher said of Tutino and Menard. “Kayla had a jammed foot and Menard took one off the hand. But they’re both fighters that are going to compete.”
Senior defenseman Tara Watchorn has also stepped up to the plate for BU.
Watchorn, who has scored at least one point in five of the last eight games, assisted Menard’s second goal of the game on Saturday and Tutino’s goal on Sunday. The Terrier has made both key stops and scored opportune goals, proving that she can be both an offensive and defensive force.
Cardella, who earned her fourth tally of the season with the game-winning goal during Sunday’s game, now has five assists and nine points so far this season.
During their losing streak, the Terriers lost three games by two goals or less, with their only major loss coming from their 7-1 contest against No. 3 Cornell University.
“They have done a tremendous job,” Durocher said. “Not just 55 minutes today, but the last four games, there have been other frustrations, which have been self-inflicted. Playing as well as we did today and not coming up with something would have been disappointing.”
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