Junior forward Kayla Tutino was on the ice for all three Terrier goals as BU beat Northeastern in the Terriers’ first conference game of the season.
Although the Boston University women’s hockey team squeaked out a 3-2 overtime victory over Northeastern University at Matthews Arena Tuesday night, BU coach Brian Durocher was not in the brightest mood following the victory for the Terriers.
“I don’t think it was, technically, a very well-played game by us,” Durocher said. “I don’t think it was a very disciplined game played by us and I don’t think it was a very smart game played by us.
“It should have been a game where we could have won three, four, five to one, but we didn’t want to do that. We basically wanted to hand it to them. Thanks to a nice individual play by [senior captain] Louise [Warren], we came out with a win.”
The Terriers (4-1-1, 1-0-0 Hockey East) started the battle against the Huskies (4-5-0, 1-2-0 Hockey East) on fire, sparked by a goal from sophomore forward Sarah Lefort just 1:13 into the contest. Following a turnover in the middle of the ice, Lefort scooted past a couple of Husky defensemen before beating Northeastern goalie Chloe Desjardins blocker side with a quick wrist shot.
Shortly following her goal, Lefort was called for interference, leaving the Terriers shorthanded for two minutes. Despite the man disadvantage, the Terriers cleared the puck well and prevented any solid offensive opportunities for the Huskies, allowing only two shots on net. The penalty kill was soon tested again following a two-minute minor penalty for hooking on freshman defenseman Sarah Steele.
Throughout the penalty kill, the Terriers were able to keep the puck out of center ice, which prevented turnovers and many clear shots on senior goalkeeper Kerrin Sperry.
The lone mistake of the first period for the Terriers came at 13:06, when Northeastern right wing Chelsiea Goll got the puck past Sperry in the top corner of the net, glove-hand side. Goll was set up by two quick passes from Husky defenseman Heather Mottau and forward Kelly Wallace.
Lefort’s second penalty of the game came at the 14:50 mark in the first period, when she was called for a two-minute minor interference penalty. The Terriers killed off the penalty without any major threats, the only shot coming from Mottau.
“Unfortunately, we had to kill a lot of penalties,” Warren said. “That is something that we’re good at. It’s something that we work on a lot and it showed a lot of character in all the girls. We played lots of different girls on penalty kills, so it was good to see that we could still pull out the win with so many penalties.”
The Terriers received a golden opportunity just two minutes into the second period when Husky right wing Hayley Scamurra was called for a body-checking penalty and defenseman Maggie DiMasi was called for a tripping penalty, giving BU a two-man advantage. Senior defenseman Kaleigh Fratkin created the only legitimate offensive threat for the Terriers on net during the five-on-three opportunity when she hit one shot off the right post. The Terriers struggled during the rest of the scoring chance, failing to create many opportunities on net.
Following a two-minute roughing penalty on Fratkin, the Terriers’ penalty kill looked less sharp. BU continually allowed turnovers in the middle of the ice and allowed the Huskies to aggressively attack Sperry, who made a series of highlight-reel saves.
“We got too many [penalties],” Durocher said. “Some of them were lazy. In the first period, you get a couple of penalties that are hard-nosed plays that the ref sees as an interference against us when it could have been interference against them, but we had a couple there in the third period where you’ve got to avoid it.”
The Terriers struck again at 13:22 in the second when junior center Kayla Tutino smashed a one-timer past the glove of Desjardins following a textbook pass from Warren on a delayed penalty one-man advantage.
Desjardins saved a solid opportunity on net by freshman forward Maddie Elia to close out the second period for the Terriers.
The Terriers penalty kill played off a high-sticking penalty from Elia that came in the second minute of the third period. During this time, the Huskies nearly tied up the game on a shot from Wallace that clanked off the pipe.
Following Lefort’s third penalty of the game, the Terriers gave up the game-tying goal to Husky left wing Katie MacSorley in front of the net with just under six minutes left in regulation. The score from MacSorley was set up by a pass from behind the net from Scamurra that brought Sperry out of position.
As a senior captain, Warren rallied the team following the game-tying goal.
“It’s about staying optimistic,” Warren said. “It’s keeping everyone’s mood up high. It’s not letting anyone get down on themselves. Don’t let anyone think about any mistakes. It’s just keeping a positive attitude out there. Keeping everyone excited.”
Following an aggressive Husky attack at the beginning of the overtime period, Warren scurried through the middle of the ice past two Husky defensemen and got off a quick wrist shot that went past the glove of Desjardins to secure the victory for the Terriers.
“[This win] is really important if we learn from it,” Durocher said. “If we think we played well, if we think that we outworked them, if we think we played smart, if we think did an intelligent job, it will come back and bite us.”
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