After opening its regular season and Hockey East home slate Tuesday night, the No. 6 Boston University women’s hockey team will stay in the friendly confines of Walter Brown Arena Sunday for another crucial conference clash.
The Terriers (5-2, 2-1 Hockey East) will welcome the University of New Hampshire, a team that has struggled in the season’s early-goings.
Most recently, the Terriers faced conference and crosstown rival Northeastern University and emerged victorious, 3-2, courtesy of strong play from freshman forward Rebecca Leslie, junior forward Rebecca Russo and freshman goaltender Erin O’Neil.
Leslie contributed two assists, and Russo tallied home two goals, but it was O’Neil who stood out, notching 37 saves.
“Erin had a really good game last night,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “To have a good week in practice, to play a good game, to play in big games, to play in postseason games – they’re all going to be building blocks in helping a kid make their stand as a top goalie. Erin has already shown the potential to do that, with last night being just a different atmosphere … She certainly stepped up and did a lot for her confidence.”
Durocher will look for his team to build off this strong performance Sunday when they welcome UNH (2-6-1, 0-2 Hockey East).
“Hopefully the team’s mentality is that they’re excited about playing at home and getting through a nail-biter type of game and playing pretty solid throughout,” Durocher said. “Northeastern is a pretty good hockey team, and they put up a good fight. The focus has got to turn immediately to UNH. We can really enjoy the Northeastern game for about 12 hours or so.”
All of these positives have come without the play of one of BU’s most important players in senior forward Marie-Philip Poulin. Poulin has sat out the last two games, but Durocher said he believes the team has not missed a beat in her absence.
“Marie is probably a couple weeks from getting back on the ice here,” Durocher said. “When she’s gone, there is definitely a void out there as far as leadership, high-end talent and competitiveness go. We still put plenty of good forwards and defenseman on the ice though.
“It happens that for some kids, there becomes a little bit more power play time, a little more penalty kill time and some people have to step up. We can’t use her absence as a crutch in any way.”
While the Terriers have, for the most part, achieved positive results, the Wildcats have not been so fortunate.
UNH is battling through a three-game losing streak, with their most recent result being a 6-2 road defeat at the hands of Dartmouth College. During this losing streak, the Wildcats have allowed 14 goals and tallied only three of their own.
Despite all of this, Durocher argues that his team will not overlook UNH, as every Hockey East team provides a tough battle.
“They’re a team with a new coach, so that always kicks off some energy,” Durocher said. “It always gives the kids a new look where they try to show what they can do. I’m assured they’re going to work hard and compete out there. It’s a proud program going through some trying times right now, but we can’t let that get in our way.”
However, on the whole, the Wildcats have struggled to both score and keep other teams off the scoreboard.
Goaltender Vilma Vaattovaara has played every minute of the season so far, but on average has allowed 2.65 goals a game, has a .919 save percentage and in four games this season, has allowed four or more goals.
On the offensive front, no player has truly broken through for the Wildcats. They have received slow, but steady outputs from several forwards. Senior Kayla Mork leads the team with five points on one goal and four assists. Sophomore Jonna Curtis has three goals of her own, and freshman Amy Boucher has contributed two goals herself.
“Our job is to respect them, go after them like we would any other team, and be as disciplined and thorough as we can be,” Durocher said. “There’s for sure some talented kids on UNH that are going to work hard, and we can’t take anything for granted. Every two points looks the same at the end of the year.”
Jonathan's a New Englander who writes about sports, features and politics. He currently covers men's hockey at BU, worked as Sports Editor during the spring 2016 semester and is on the FreeP's Board of Directors. Toss him a follow on Twitter at @jonathansigal.
