After a 4-3 overtime defeat at the hands of No. 7 Northeastern University in the final round of the 34th annual women’s Beanpot Tuesday night, the No. 10 Boston University women’s hockey team will travel to Burlington, Vt. for a two-game series against the University of Vermont.
“We want to put [Tuesday night] behind us, which is still not the easiest thing to get over,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “We want to make sure we come prepared and look forward to what we have to do.”
The Catamounts (4-18-6, 3-12-2 Hockey East) occupy last place in Hockey East rankings while BU (16-13-1, 10-7 Hockey East) sits behind Northeastern and No. 6 Boston College in third place.
Tuesday night’s loss to the Huskies (19-6-3, 12-3-2 Hockey East) began with a scoreless first, which NU changed 6:20 into the second period on a 5-on-3 power-play goal from freshman Kendall Coyne. Coyne accompanies senior captain Jenn Wakefield in 14th place among scoring leaders in the nation. The goal was Coyne’s 24th of the season.
Fewer than two minutes later, the Huskies made it 2-0 on a rebound goal from forward Lucie Povova.
Just 10 minutes after the first goal from Northeastern, BU answered with a shot from freshman defenseman Shannon Stoneburgh. The Pickering, Ontario native’s shot came from the top of the left circle and passed through Huskies’ netminder Florence Schelling for the first BU tally of the night. Sophomore forward Marie-Philip Poulin and junior forward Isabel Menard earned the assists.
Two minutes later, BU knotted the game at two with a 5-on-3 power-play goal from freshman forward Kayla Tutino. Tutino was positioned in the left post and converted a pass from Menard into the tying goal. Senior defenseman Tara Watchorn also earned an assist on the play.
The Terriers and Huskies went into the third period clawing to get out of their knotted dogfight. BU managed to break the tie on a second power-play goal from Tutino, who paired up with Wakefield to take the lead. After the captain’s shot was blocked by Schelling and deflected to Tutino, Tutino shoved the puck past Schelling and into the back of the net for the goal.
Despite the late lead, Northeastern immediately snapped the Terriers’ advantage on a goal from Northeastern defenseman Sonia St. Martin. The 3-3 score held until the end of regulation, when a goal from Beanpot MVP Casey Pickett 5:27 into overtime sealed a 15th Beanpot championship for the Huskies.
“It’s clearly a factor,” Durocher said of Tuesday night’s loss and its effect on the team’s upcoming weekend series. “It’s human nature.”
Vermont did not fare any better in its 3-0 loss to the University of Maine Sunday afternoon. UVM now trails New Hampshire by two points in its bid for the sixth Hockey East playoff spot.
“I think the motivation for Vermont is they’re trying to get that last playoff spot,” Durocher said.
The last contest against the Catamounts was a momentous one for the Terriers, who defeated Vermont 6-2. The victory resulted in Wakefield’s first collegiate hat trick and a five-game win streak, which ended Tuesday night.
Forward Chelsea Rapin, who leads UVM with six goals, and defenseman Danielle Rancourt scored the two Vermont tallies.
“Sometimes people get on rolls,” Durocher said of Wakefield’s performance in the last matchup against Vermont. “It’s nice to know she goes in with a good frame of mind.”
Wakefield leads the team with 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists).
The Terriers went two-for-six on the power play in their victory against Vermont, which BU repeated in its Beanpot performance on Tuesday.
After Tuesday night’s performance, the Terriers rank 12th in the nation on the power play.
BU special teams have also stepped up on the penalty kill, earning a national third-place spot with an 88.2 season average. In its first game against Vermont, BU killed all but one of the Catamounts 10 power-play attempts. The Terriers repeated a similar feat on Tuesday, allowing just one power-play goal on seven attempts by the Huskies.
“I am always excited about the kids we put out there,” Durocher said. “We do a good job of killing [penalties]. Our special teams did really good.
“The biggest thing is consistency in your preparation and decision-making. We are going to bring our physical game, and more importantly, our mental game.”
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