The Boston University women’s hockey team will play Minnesota State University, Mankato and the No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Madison this weekend in Arlington, Virginia at the Washington Capitals practice facility. Northeastern University, who the Terriers (4-6-2, 3-5-2 Hockey East) will not play, will also appear in this weekend’s series.
BU comes into the game after sweeping the University of Vermont twice over the weekend by a combined score of 10-2.
The Terriers had a strong offensive showing as senior forward Victoria Bach notched five goals and one assist over the series, and senior forward and captain Rebecca Leslie collected three goals and four assists.
BU head coach Brian Durocher said that he liked his team’s attention to detail around their net.
“While Corinne had to make 60 saves in the two games and she did her part, I think the kids were there to clear rebounds … pick up kids wearing the Vermont jerseys and not standing directing traffic,” Durocher said.
The pair has led the way so far this season for the Terriers. Bach has a team-high 20 points and Leslie only trails by one with 19.
“[Bach and Leslie are] really talented kids. We all know that,” Durocher said. “They’re the real consistent [players] in this team and … even in the games when they maybe got shut down a bit, they still generated plenty of opportunities.”
BU will look to keep up its success as it plays two very different teams this weekend — Mankato (2-11-1), which only won two games this season, and Wisconsin (16-0), which are undefeated thus far.
The Mavericks’ lone wins have come against Lindenwood University in the beginning of the season and St. Cloud State University on Oct. 28.
Most recently, Mankato was swept by the University of Minnesota Duluth, but only by a one-goal margin in each game.
Forwards Jordan McLaughlin currently leads the team with 10 points and Brittyn Fleming has team-high assists with seven. Both players will provide a challenge on the defensive end of the ice for the Terriers.
Durocher said it will be very important that his team doesn’t take Mankato lightly as the Mavericks play in the competitive Western Collegiate Hockey Association conference.
“They’re well, well tested because they play in that league so we’ve got to make sure we respect that opponent and have all of our focus on that first game,” Durocher said.
Freshman goaltender Corinne Schroeder played both games in between the pipes against Vermont (5-9-1, 3-6-1 Hockey East) and currently owns a .946 goal save percentage and 1.54 goals against average.
A solid presence in net from Schroeder or senior goaltender Erin O’Neil will be imperative for the Terriers as they face a Wisconsin team that averages 3.6 goals per game.
Durocher said goaltending and defending will be “paramount” against the Badgers as they “pride themselves on starting with defense.”
“They move the puck up the ice real quick, they do a great job of line changes so they’re not getting caught out there tired or trying to hard to score the goal,” Durocher said. “They’ll sacrifice a little bit of offense to play good defense and yet they still have plenty of talent to go get goals offensively.”
Wisconsin is coming off a weekend sweep of Cornell University and has yet to fall in a game.
Part of the Badgers’ success is their offense led by sophomore forwards Abby Roque and Presley Norby who lead the team in points with 19 and 17 respectively. Additionally, redshirt senior Claudia Kepler has collected nine goals, the highest on the team.
Only two players among Wisconsin’s roster have gone without scoring a point, which includes their redshirt sophomore goaltender Kristen Campbell who will be arguably BU’s biggest goaltending challenge all season.
While the Terriers come into the matchup against the Badgers, last year’s national runner-up, averaging 3.1 goals per game, Campbell has only let in 15 goals across 16 games. The goaltender currently sits on a .951 goal save percentage and .94 goals against average, which is good for second in the nation.
In terms of facing Campbell, Durocher said with any goaltender, the team sticks to similar pieces of advice: shooting pucks low on the net, getting traffic in front of the net and finding different angles for shots.
“[If] you’re coming out of the corner and you don’t have a grade-A scoring, but you throw one right down at her feet, it’s a lot different than if you throw one up at her glove hand and now there’s a faceoff so little things like that can add up,” Durocher said.
