With the Beanpot fast approaching, the Boston University women’s hockey team is looking to continue its two-game win streak during a contest against No. 6 Northeastern University at Agganis Arena on Saturday.
The game will not only allow the team to get in some last minute preparation for Beantown’s hockey tradition, but it will also benefit breast cancer patients with the help of the Skating Strides program. All proceeds will be donated to various breast cancer charities as a part of the fundraiser.
“Northeastern is right in front of us,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “You got Harvard next Tuesday, we’ll get BC or Northeastern again in the second round of the Beanpot so those are all big games, PairWise games.”
BU (13-12-1, 8-7 Hockey East) is riding a victory wave, coming off a 6-0 win over No. 4 Boston College. The Terriers shattered the Eagles’ six-game winning streak, using six different players to get the job done.
“Any time you beat a real good team – and that’s Boston College – it’s important for the team; it’s important for the confidence what goes on for our club,” Durocher said. “We again, have to get a few more [wins].”
Junior Isabel Menard crossed the 100-point mark of her career with an assist in the second frame, and then added to that total with another assist in the third period.
Sophomore goaltender Kerrin Sperry recorded her first shutout of the season against the Eagles, stopping the puck 30 times to keep BC out of the net.
Opening the scoring streak for the Terriers with 11 seconds left in the first period was junior forward Taylor Holze who converted a pass from sophomore forward Louise Warren into a goal.
The Terriers went on to score two more points in the middle frame. Redshirt freshman Caroline Campbell earned her second goal of the season on a rebound off of BC netminder Corrine Boyles’ skate. Sophomore forward Marie-Philip Poulin punctuated her return with the third goal of the game on a shot from the right circle.
The Terriers used the last period to score the second half of their goals, two of which came with a man advantage. Senior defenseman Tara Watchorn and Warren both capitalized on the power play with goals halfway through the final block.
Senior captain Jenn Wakefield finished the game with an unassisted goal 16:32 into the final frame.
The win completed the series against BC with BU coming out on top, 2-1. It’s BU’s third victory against opponents ranked in the top five of this week’s poll.
“I don’t know if we could ever find a way to get all the way back up in the PairWise race, but we certainly can help our confidence,” Durocher said. “We can certainly let people know that we are going to be around.”
With the help of BU, the Northeastern Huskies (17-5-2, 11-2-2 Hockey East) now sit atop Hockey East ahead of the Eagles and are coming off a 5-1 win against the University of Vermont.
When the Huskies defeated the Catamounts (3-15-6, 2-9-2 Hockey East), freshman Kendall Coyne completed a set of hat tricks NU accumulated in its last two games, the first coming from junior Casey Pickett on Wednesday. Pickett scored a goal and had two assists in Thursday’s game.
Coyne leads the team with 38 points (21 goals and 17 assists) and is caught in a three-way tie for 12th in the nation among scoring leaders. Wakefield and Pickett are right behind in a three-way tie for the 15th spot in the nation.
“We got a core of five, six, seven national team players and if those kids are on the lineup at the same time, you’ve got to like our team,” Durocher said.
The Terriers have struggled against Northeastern this season. While Sperry made 33 saves in their 2-0 loss in the first game of the series, BU was unable to dig up an offense to back up its netminder. Coyne scored both NU goals.
In their second meeting, the Terriers were able to get on the board with a goal from Tutino, but were unable to counteract the four goals scored by the Huskies.
With a change of scenery, the Terriers hope to shake up the outcome and come out with a win.
“The rink is five feet wider so it gives you a little more room to skate and operate out there, but we’ve enjoyed going over [to Agganis] each year, we’ve played well over there,” Durocher said. “I don’t think it’s too significantly different. It’s still a hockey game.”
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