Women’s hockey settles for tie with Yale

A penalty-filled, back-and-forth matchup between the No. 6 Boston University women’s hockey team and Yale University resulted in both squads skating to a 4-4 tie Saturday afternoon in New Haven, Connecticut. After deficits were erased and leads changed, overtime proved to be insufficient in deciding a winner, leaving BU to walk away with just a point on the road trip.

“We had some puck possession offensively. We had some bursts of speed and opportunities that way, but again, I think we made it too easy for them to score goals,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “You can work hard in one end or have puck possession… but four goals is too many. Three was the magic number, and you’d like to hold them to two or under, but we gave up four, and we come out with a point versus maybe a road win.”

The Terriers (6-2-1, 3-1 Hockey East) are eighth in the nation in goals per game with 3.44, which was prevalent during their tilt with Yale (2-2-1). The difference on Saturday, however, was that every goal for BU was a result of special-teams play.

Junior forward Rebecca Russo put her team on the scoreboard first 8:33 into the opening frame. Senior defenseman Caroline Campbell had taken a tripping penalty 45 seconds prior to put the Terriers on the penalty kill, but Russo connected with freshman winger Rebecca Leslie for 2-on-0, a shorthanded bid that beat Yale goaltender Jaimie Leonoff.

Two minutes into the second period, the Bulldogs tied it up, and a Terrier penalty proved costly when Yale added a power play goal 17:35 into the stanza. A minute later, junior wing Sarah Lefort found junior center Kayla Tutino for another shorthanded tally that knotted the score at two.

But Yale would take the lead again 19 seconds later when freshman Courtney Pensavalle potted her second goal and power-play goal of the game, leaving BU to head into the second intermission in a one-goal hole.

Freshman center Victoria Bach got the Terriers back in it thanks to a power-play score at 1:39. Both teams skated for another 15 minutes without a goal, but at 16:02 in the third, Doyle and sophomore center Maddie Elia helped Lefort break through on the power play to give BU the lead back.

The Bulldogs pulled Leonoff shortly after and were able to tie the game at four apiece with three minutes left in the game. The Bulldogs continued to pressure for the remainder of the contest, forcing freshman goaltender Erin O’Neil to make some stunning saves between the pipes to add to her total of 24 on the day.

“It’s good that she’s been on a nice run, and she’s had the chance to play four games in a row and show herself that way,” Durocher said. “She made really two in the last two minutes of the game after they tied it and I think one in the overtime that were fantastic saves, and so it’s great to see her do her part.”

Durocher also said he thought the game was “funny” in terms of the calls and the bounces, but he stressed that the officials don’t decide who wins games. The players do.

“There’s talent, and then they’re making some good individual plays,” he said. “They’re working pretty hard in that end of the ice, but we’ve got to be a little more disciplined, a little more thorough in our end and not be giving up that many goals.”