In the semifinal round of the 37th Annual Women’s Beanpot Tournament, the No. 6/7 Boston University women’s hockey team skated to a 9-2 defeat against a high-powered No. 4 Harvard University on Tuesday night at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
For the Terriers (17-7-2), things got off to a worrisome start, as the Crimson (16-4-2) found the back of the net a mere 34 seconds after the puck first dropped. Harvard forward Sydney Daniels saw a blocked shot fall to her stick, and she bested sophomore goaltender Victoria Hanson with a strong wrist shot.
Daniels’ goal itself was reason to fret, but it signaled a similar trend for BU in the first period. In its 5-3 victory over the University of Connecticut on Saturday, BU also allowed its opponent to tally less than a minute into the game. BU coach Brian Durocher said this was disappointing to see, as it set his team on the back foot before it could get rolling.
“The slow start hurt because of the way it unfolded,” he said. “It unfolded with us losing stick battles. We had five of our best players on the ice, kids who are good, veteran hockey players. It was a little demoralizing when it happens to them because they are talented players. Without a doubt, it’s tough.”
The Terriers’ slow start continued as the period wore on and the offense in particular struggled. BU, who finished the first period with only three shots on goal, did not test Harvard goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer until junior forward Rebecca Russo’s wrist shot 7:28 into the first.
BU’s defensive efforts mirrored their offensive ones as the period wore on, with Harvard finding the back of the net 13:40 into the frame through forward Lyndsey Fry. A defense-splitting pass sent Fry through in one-on-one against Hanson, and the Harvard forward deked onto her backhand before lifting the puck over Hanson’s pads.
Despite BU coming out with renewed energy to start the second period, the Crimson bested Hanson three more times in the early portions of the frame. Forward Mary Parker tipped home a slap shot at the 6:35 mark, and forward Hillary Crowe found the back of the net 55 seconds later and again at 9:46.
The second period put the nail in the coffin for the Terriers and Durocher said it represented how little to nothing went right for his team against the Crimson.
“There was nothing to write home about tonight from the Boston University Terriers,” he said. “Pick an area of the game of hockey, and we didn’t have it. We didn’t have it whether it was the strength, or competitiveness, or conviction.
“I think kids started panicking maybe and backing in and things started to snowball 110 percent in the wrong direction.”
Facing a daunting 5-0 deficit, BU was able to briefly claw its way back into the game through a goal from junior forward Sarah Lefort. However, Harvard came right back with goals from freshman Dani Krzyszczyk and forward Jessica Harvey to send BU into the locker room down 7-1.
In the third period, the narrative remained mostly the same. A strong bid from freshman center Victoria Bach got the Terriers on the board again, but Harvard goals from Harvey and senior Samantha Reber plagued any hopes for a BU comeback.
While the 9-2 scoreline catches the eye, Durocher emphasized how the loss took a toll on his players’ mental state and made for an unlucky and ominous evening.
“In one word, I would say [we are] dented,” he said. “A pretty significant dent. But also, [the players] are frustrated because they haven’t had the success in this tournament for whatever reason. The stars haven’t lined up. When things like that happen, it’s partly what the other team did and partly a little bit of the bad luck we seem to face in [the Beanpot]. We just didn’t make enough of our own breaks.”
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.
