With the 38th Beanpot Tournament beginning Tuesday, the Boston University women’s hockey team made sure it took care of business first when Merrimack College visited Saturday afternoon.
That’s just what the Terriers (17-9-2, 14-4-2 Hockey East) did against the Warriors (4-23-1, 2-15-1 Hockey East), as they earned a 6-2 victory through the efforts of several key players.
“It’s good to start off on a positive note,” said senior captain and forward Kayla Tutino. “It’s good for team momentum and team atmosphere, and it’s obviously a positive for our team.”
BU was ready to go from the start of the first period, tallying its first goal just over one minute in. Junior defenseman Alexis Crossley notched her fourth goal of the season on a shot from between the circles after a pass across from Tutino.
Merrimack would rally back with a score of its own through freshman Annie Boeckers — her first goal of the season. Sophomore goaltender Erin O’Neil said she thought she saved the puck in her glove, but it slid behind her, and Boeckers was in the right place to tap it in, evening the score at one apiece.
The Terriers would not let the Warriors get off that easy, however, with Tutino putting one more goal on the scoreboard for BU with 52.1 seconds remaining in the first frame. Senior forward Sarah Lefort grabbed the puck on a rebound opportunity and passed it to Tutino, who was ready in front for a wrist shot that whizzed past goaltender Samantha Ridgewell’s glove side.
In the second period, BU continued to lay on the offense, with Crossley getting her second goal of the game on a slap shot from the blue line, which cruised through traffic and into the net past Ridgewell. Crossley admitted that she had no clear look at goal, but hoped for the best when she let the puck rip.
“It’s always nice to score goals and to get great passes from your teammates like Kayla,” said Crossley. “In the end, hoping that every single person is able to contribute to the game is what’s important right now.”
Freshman forward Sammy Davis would score one of her own just three minutes later on a shot between the circles after a pass from junior forward Samantha Sutherland, giving the Terriers a 4-1 lead early in the second period.
A holding penalty on junior forward Maddie Elia would then give Merrimack a power play and the opportunity to capitalize on the man advantage. Freshman Paige Sorensen shot a one-timer from the blue line through traffic and past O’Neil, making the score 4-2 at the end of the second frame.
The third period was all BU, with goals from Lefort and sophomore forward Victoria Bach coming just 24 seconds apart. Lefort deflected Tutino’s shot from the high slot into the net past Ridgewell, and Bach grabbed the final goal of the game on a backhand shot in front of the net after a pass from Lefort.
“I thought all three periods we did pretty well,” said BU assistant coach Katie Lachapelle. “We kept the pedal down the whole game and didn’t really have any let-ups for ten minutes at a time.”
Ranya currently covers field hockey and women’s hockey for the Daily Free Press. As a Biology major at BU, she spends much of her time buried in her Chemistry textbook with the occasional trip to the piano practice room to rehearse her favorite piece, Debussy’s "Claire de Lune." She is an avid ice hockey fan and a proud supporter of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
