The Boston University women’s hockey team will be getting a few reinforcements as it looks to secure its fourth-straight Hockey East championship and sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance this upcoming season.
The Terriers announced their Class of 2018 Wednesday, which is comprised of five freshmen and one transfer. In total, three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender will be added to BU’s roster.
“I am happy to welcome six student athletes to the Boston University women’s ice hockey program,” said BU head coach Brian Durocher in a statement. “Assistant coaches Katie Lachapelle and Allison Coomey put in long hours to identify and then recruit these talented and intelligent young ladies. I am confident that they will be significant contributors to our hockey program as well as the Boston University community.”
Victoria Bach, a 5-foot-4 forward from Milton, Ontario, played with the Mississauga Jr. Chiefs of the Provincial Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) over the past two seasons. During the 2013-14 campaign, Bach served as an assistant captain, helping Mississauga win gold in the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association’s Provincial Championships. She led the PWHL in both goals (36) and points (68) last season.
Rebecca Leslie, a 5-foot-6 forward from Ottawa, Ontario, played with the PWHL’s Ottawa Senators over the last three seasons, captaining the team last year. Leslie finished sixth in the league in scoring with 52 points (25 goals, 27 assists) last season.
Anna Streifel, a 5-foot-10 forward from Bowie, Md., scored 36 goals and recorded 19 assists for a combined 55 points last season with the Washington Pride of the Junior Women’s Hockey League, where she played for three seasons.
Alexis Crossley, a 5-foot-8 defenseman from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, transferred to BU from the University of New Hampshire. During her two-season tenure (2012-14) with the Wildcats, Crossley scored 11 goals and 21 assists for a combined 32 points. Crossley, who was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team and was a Hockey East Second-Team All-Star in 2012-13, will sit out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA transfer regulations.
Savannah Newton, a 5-foot-4 defenseman out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was an assistant captain for the last two years at Appleby College, helping her team earn a second-place finish at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ Championships as a sophomore and a third-place finish as a senior. During her time at Appleby, Newton played two seasons with BU sophomore defenseman Sarah Steele.
Erin O’Neil, a 5-foot-7 goaltender from Minnetonka, Minn., won a silver medal with Team USA at the 2014 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Women’s U18 Championship. During her senior season at the Hopkins School, O’Neil posted a 17-5-0 record with a 1.25 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage. Following the 2013-14 season, O’Neil was named the 2014 Let’s Play Hockey Senior Goalie of the Year, given to top Minnesota senior goalie in girl’s high school hockey.
Two members of the Class of 2018 were members of the 2013-14 Canadian National Women’s Under-18 team, as both Bach and Leslie helped capture the gold medal at the 2014 IIHF World Women’s U18 championship.
BU’s new crop of players will join 19 returning letter winners – 17 of which dressed last season.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
