The No. 8 Boston University women’s hockey team shut out arch-rival Boston College in the semifinals of the 2020 Women’s Beanpot Tuesday night at Walter Brown Arena.
The Terriers (19-6-3, 13-6-3 Hockey East) are hosting the tournament as defending champions and were matched up with the Eagles (14-11-3, 13-8-2 Hockey East) for the semifinal round.
While the goaltender was the only new line-up change for the Terriers, one name stood out. Junior forward Jesse Compher scored two goals while slotted on the third line, but BU Head Coach Brian Durocher said that was not her designated line for the entirety of the game.
“We did make a couple of switches,” Durorcher said. “[Compher] is the kid who had 60-something points last year, was the top scorer in the league and one of the top three or four in the country, and she hasn’t quite had the foundation underneath her this year.”
It took just over six minutes into the opening period for BU to get on the board. Redshirt senior Sammy Davis picked up the puck along the left boards, and passed it to senior defenseman Abby Cook who was open at the blue line. Cook one-timed a shot past Eagle sophomore goaltender Maddy McArthur to give the Terriers the early lead.
Cook said the Terriers needed to set the tone of the game early.
“We knew that we had to come out strong,” Cook said. “They were going to be all over us, so we decided to stick to our game, keep the puck down low and keep working.”
With less than four minutes remaining in the opening period, the Eagles began to gain offensive momentum, as they registered four shots on net before a scramble in front of junior goaltender Corinne Schroeder led to a BU penalty after the whistle.
Schroder said her teammates on defense were crucial in keeping the Eagles out of the net.
“The tough ones were usually the ones where I couldn’t see the puck, they had good front-net presence there,” Schroeder said. “My defense did a good job to clear them out of the way or at least give me a sight-line so I could see the puck.”
The Terriers ended the period with a 1-0 lead despite being outshot 12-7.
Both teams had chances to score in the second stanza, but the Terriers saw theirs on the power play.
BC freshman forward Caroline DiFiore was called for elbowing 6:02 into the second period, but the Terriers were unable to take advantage of the opportunity.
BU went into the final stanza of play again with a 1-0 lead.
Compher, who was riding an 11-game goalless streak, scored two goals in the final period of play to extend the Terriers lead to 3-0.
Compher said her goals came out of fortunate circumstances, one of which came from a pass from junior forward Nara Elia.
“The first one Nara Elia pretty much put it on my tape, [so] I didn’t have to do much work,” Compher said. “The second one, I got a big rush of speed and saw some open net so ‘why not shoot it?’”
Senior forward Deziray De Sousa had an empty-net goal with less than two minutes to go in the game, sealing the victory for BU at 4-0. Schroeder finished the night with 33 saves.
With the win, BU will play No. 2 Northeastern University (24-3-1, 20-2-0 Hockey East) next Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Beanpot Finals at Walter Brown Arena.
Up next, the Terriers are scheduled to face the College of the Holy Cross (3-20-5, 3-17-2 Hockey East) in Worcester on Saturday at 3 p.m at Hart Center.
Durocher said the offensive output was nice, but a defensive performance is just as impressive.
“It was a fairly even game,” Durocher said. “[The] scoreboard obviously leaning towards BU … the kids have a mindset to play defense first, and I am excited about the four goals but it’s exciting again that we defended well.”
