Women’s hockey earns weekend sweep over UConn

Playing a home-and-home series versus the University of Connecticut over the weekend, the No. 6 Boston University women’s ice hockey team swept both matchups, retaining second place in the Hockey East.

On the road in Storrs, Connecticut, the Terriers (8-3-1, 5-2 Hockey East) came away with a 3-2 victory in a thrilling match.

With senior captain Marie-Philip Poulin back on the ice for the first time since Oct. 24, BU’s offense looked to regain its past form early, launching 12 first-period shots. However, it would not get on the board until the second frame, when sophomore center Maddie Elia notched her second tally of the season off an assist from freshman winger Rebecca Leslie at 8:24.

Later in the period, the Terriers struck again off the stick of another underclassman. This time, freshman forward Victoria Bach received a pass from junior forward Kayla Tutino and potted the team’s second goal of the game at 19:34.

Not to be put away, however, the Huskies (3-7-5, 0-3-2 Hockey East) roared back in the final stanza. With just under five minutes into the period, UConn capitalized on special teams when freshman Justine Fredette made the Terriers pay on the power play, cutting the deficit to one. The deficit would be gone less than two minutes later when senior Rebecca Fleming knotted the game up at two.

With the lead blown and UConn still threatening, overtime appeared to be the best-case scenario for BU. However, Elia put an end to that notion when she scored the game-winner with 30 seconds remaining in the game, handing the Terriers the 3-2 victory.

“I thought today was much more of a thorough contest for our team all the way through,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “That was one of the focuses we had after yesterday when we played a pretty darn good first period, a not too bad second and then we went to sleep a little bit in the third.”

Returning to Walter Brown Arena for the first matchup of a three-game homestand, BU looked for the weekend sweep against its Hockey East foe.

Much like the tilt on Saturday, the Terriers got chances early and often Sunday, except that on this occasion, they took full advantage of them. Just 2:51 into the game, Poulin shed any doubts related to her health by burying her sixth score of the season and putting the Terriers on the board.

“Yesterday, there was a little bit of apprehension when you have an injury like that,” Durocher said. “You want to get bumped or banged and see how it’s going to hold up, and you don’t know until you get knocked down a couple of times or run into some people. Yesterday was kind of the trial. But today when the game started, she was a person on a mission, and she really was playing at a different gear from yesterday.”

BU continued to make the most of its 11 first-period shots, overwhelming Husky goalkeeper Annie Belanger with two more goals in the frame. The Terriers exploited a UConn mistake when sophomore defenseman Sarah Steele scored a power-play goal nearly halfway through the period off assists from junior forward Rebecca Russo and junior defenseman Lillian Ribeirinha-Braga.

Following a UConn goal at the 11:10 mark, the Terriers did not panic, instead responding with a goal of their own. Killing off a penalty after an Elia foul, Poulin collected her second goal of the day, a shorthanded effort, with the help from junior winger Sarah Lefort at 17:18.

“Without a doubt, she’s our leader as far as being a captain, and she’s our leader in the way she plays and the type of teammate she is,” Durocher said of Poulin. “Today, she had it in full gear and scored the first goal and then got the game-winning goal which was shorthanded, so a great job by her, and she was certainly ably supported by her teammates.”

The first period provided all the offense the Terriers needed, as they rolled to the 4-2 victory and the home-and-home sweep.

With the weekend dubbed a success, Durocher lauded his team for its chemistry and effort against a resilient Husky squad.

“Today was much more thorough,” Durocher said. “Even though we got a couple of penalties in the third period and UConn kept pressing, we’re unselfish in that people are dumping the puck in, getting timely line changes and getting fresh legs out there. All in all, a pretty solid effort.”