Terriers enter into Hockey East quarterfinal

The third-seeded No. 9 Boston University Terriers will take on the sixth-seeded Wildcats in an epic cat and dog battle for the quarterfinal game of the Women’s Hockey East Tournament. The puck drops this Sunday at 3 p.m. at Walter Brown Arena.

It is the Terriers’ second time hosting a Hockey East quarterfinal contest in program history and the third year in a row BU has hosted a playoff game.

“When the puck drops, there will be more pressure on us because we’re the highest seed,” BU coach Brian Durocher said. “We want to go out on net hard and quickly and hopefully people will forget about any pressure.”

In their final regular series of the season, the Terriers (20-13-1, 14-7 Hockey East) defeated the University of Connecticut weekend series. In the first game of the home-and-home series, the Terriers defeated the Huskies 3-2 in overtime.

While UConn (4-23-7, 3-15-3 Hockey East) bit first on a goal 8:05 into the initial frame, the Terriers’ sophomore forward Marie-Philip Poulin scored three minutes later on a goal with assists from junior forward Isabel Menard and senior defenseman Carly Warren. It was Poulin’s fifth goal of the season.

The Huskies broke the tie with a goal in the middle frame on an unassisted goal from forward Emily Snodgrass.

BU tied it up again in the final frame at the 14:27 mark, forcing the game into overtime. Menard recorded her 16th goal of the season with the tally and was assisted by Poulin, who had a hand in every goal of the game.

Once into overtime, the Terriers took no time in capping a win. Poulin scored her second goal of the game 2:13 into extra frame on an assist from senior captain Jenn Wakefield.

On Sunday, although the Terriers were second to score for the second straight contest, they managed a 2-1 win over the persistent Huskies. Connecticut scored first on a power-play goal from forward Kelly Horan. She was assisted by defenseman Maggie Walsh, who earned her 12th assist of the season.

The rest of the game was all BU. Sophomore Louise Warren scored first for the Terriers on assists from Warren and junior forward Jill Cardella 9:32 into the first period.

BU broke the tie in the middle frame on a goal from senior defenseman Tara Watchorn.

UNH (10-21-3, 4-15-2 Hockey East) finished off its regular season with an away series against the University of Maine. Maine took the series, winning in overtime in the first game on Saturday.

The Wildcats fell to the Black Bears 4-3, despite scoring the first three goals of the game. Neither team scored in the first period, but UNH bounced back on a trio of goals in the middle frame.

Forwards Kristina Lavoie and Kayla Mork combined to score the Wildcat’s three goals, with Lavoie’s second goal coming on the power play. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the rest of the game was dominated by Maine, who scored four straight to take the overtime victory.

On Sunday, the Wildcats were again defeated by the Black Bears 2-1. Maine scored first 1:47 into the first frame, but the Wildcats began to make a comeback, scoring on a goal from Lavoie at the 4:03 mark. However, Maine broke the tie in the middle frame to make it 2-1, a score that held to the end of the contest.

The Terriers took the season series against the Wildcats, losing just once to UNH and defeating them 5-1 in their last meeting.

“It would appear that UNH has improved as the year moved on,” Durocher said. “Their most dominant effort of the three-game series was when they beat us up there.”

In their 4-2 loss to the Wildcats, the Terriers outshot UNH 29-22 and were 2-3 on the power play.

Last year, the No. 1 Terriers were upset by the No. 5 Northeastern University 4-2 in the semifinal game of the Hockey East tournament.

“Last year’s loss give us extra motivation,” Durocher said. “Most of the team has played in an NCAA tournament or Hockey East championship game. We want to reflect on those positive thoughts.”