Sometimes the best thing for a struggling team is to face a team that is struggling more. While the Boston University women’s hockey team lost its third game in a row on Thursday against the University of New Hampshire, the Terriers broke their losing streak with a win over last-place University of Vermont at home on Saturday.
Entering the matchup with New Hampshire (9-13-3, 3-7-2 Hockey East), the Terriers had just been swept in a weekend series against the University of Maine and three of its last four.
Opening up the scoring against UNH on Thursday was sophomore defenseman Kaleigh Fratkin, who scored within the first five minutes of the game to give BU the early lead.
UNH would answer though, scoring back-to-back goals and taking the momentum from the Terriers.
Senior captain Jenn Wakefield scored a power-play goal to tie it up with 7:53 remaining in the second. However, the Wildcats would retake the lead when senior Emma Clark scored three minutes after Wakefield’s goal.
“In the second period we decided we were going to try to do a couple of things that were a little bit high risk, they were a little more difficult, they were not as intelligent,” said BU coach Brian Durocher.
That goal was a lead the Wildcats wouldn’t surrender, as freshman Jenna Lascelle scored a power-play goal in the third to give them the 4-2 victory.
The Terriers then recovered from their third straight loss with a victory over Vermont (3-14-6, 2-8-2 Hockey East) on Saturday night.
“[The win over Vermont] was great. It was absolutely needed,” Durocher said. “It certainly will clear some space in everybody’s head mentally. That is the toughest thing.”
Wakefield led the team’s efforts with her first career hat trick and six points for the Terriers.
BU started the game on fire, scoring two goals in the first four minutes while both teams had a player in the box. Wakefield scored her 13th goal of the year before she assisted junior forward Jill Cardella’s goal only a minute and a half later.
Vermont coach Tim Bothwell called a timeout following the second goal, which proved to be a good decision. UVM held off BU’s surging offense and brought the game within one on a goal before the end of the frame.
Early in the second, the Catamounts brought the game even with a power play goal. However, BU answered with a power-play goal of its own as Wakefield netted her second tally of the game just over six minutes later.
Freshman forward Kayla Tutino built on the momentum of the Wakefield goal, as she took the puck off the Wakefield faceoff win, toe-dragged around a defender and tucked the puck behind UVM goaltender Roxanne Douville for her 13th goal of the season just over a minute after Wakefield’s goal.
“A lot of credit to [Tutino] and how fearless she is around the net,” Durocher said. “It doesn’t take much fear to throw you off in there and when you play like she plays she is concentrated on one thing: getting it in.”
That was all the insurance BU would need, as the Terriers cruised in the third period scoring another two goals to clinch the victory. The first of the two goals was by junior forward Isabel Menard, who scored her 99th career point on the Terriers’ third power-play goal of the game.
Wakefield capped off her hat trick with the sixth and final BU goal.
BU will look to expand upon this most recent win with another battle against BC on Wednesday at Walter Brown Arena.
“I think we cleared some space in people’s heads that maybe tough going, little bit of a slump, we ran into some hot goalies and it gave you sort of a negative mindset,” Durocher said. “Now there is a little bit more of a positive mindset that the puck is starting to fall for us a little more.
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