When Mary Parker and Nina Rodgers each notched points on Sept. 25 in the Boston University women’s hockey team’s season-opener, no one would have guessed it was their first game donning the scarlet and white.
Rodgers transferred from Minnesota and has already found success on the first line with Parker and junior forward Victoria Bach. Parker comes to BU after 104 games skating for the Harvard Crimson, and she has made her final year of eligibility count. The forward was recently crowned Hockey East Player of the Month.
The Terriers have had a successful history with transfers, and Parker and Rodgers are the two most recent examples of this impressive trend.
“When you get a transfer or a grad student, they’ve already played college hockey for a couple of years,” BU head coach Brian Durocher said. “They have a special awareness and knowledge of what it takes. Not just in the gym but at practice, at home games, road games and big games.”
Neither struggled with the adjustment to BU hockey, though, as their performance from day one is evidence of their poise and skill.
“I think the transition was pretty smooth,” Parker said. “Everyone on the team was really nice and welcoming, so that really made the transition pretty seamless.”
If you ask Durocher, the 5-foot-9 Parker is not only a strong addition to the Terriers due to her performance on the ice, but also the way she conducts herself day in and day out.
“If nothing else, she’s a leader because she’s a good person, and she’s well-respected by the kids,” he said. “Now she’s had accomplishments which gives her a little more cache.”
The Milton native had a stellar career with the Crimson. Just as she did in her junior season at Harvard, Parker has seamlessly integrated herself into the Terriers’ system and currently leads the team in points.
Parker notched a point in every game of her outstanding November, and she credits her teammates for setting her up to succeed.
“Because it’s been a pretty seamless transition it makes it a lot easier to go out and have fun and play my game,” Parker said of her success. “Also I’ve been really fortunate to play with really great linemates, which has definitely attributed to most of the success.”
Rodgers came to BU under different circumstances as a transfer from a Golden Gophers squad, the two-time defending national champions. The junior winger immediately made herself at home, and said putting on her No. 23 jersey has special meaning.
“I always get excited seeing the jersey,” Rodgers said. “That makes it official for me. Putting it on for picture day and getting all hyped up with the colors, seeing your name on the back of it and seeing the big Boston in front. That’s probably the biggest deal that made me feel part of the team.”
Despite feeling right at home in a new city, Rodgers took a bit longer than Parker to find her role with this BU team.
“As a player, her calling card is not her speed,” Durocher said. “It’s more of her hands, her sense, her compete level. She shoots the puck well. So those are all good qualities. But because she had had maybe a limited role in games at Minnesota, I think she was pressing a little bit in the beginning of the year and trying too hard.”
Just like her transfer counterpart, Rodgers has adjusted well and has received recognition from the conference. She earned Player of the Week honors after a six-point week in November, and her 16 points on the year are tied for third-most on the team.
The 5-foot-5 forward has already surpassed her two-year point total from her days as a Golden Gopher, but Rodgers doesn’t attribute her success to just transferring. While she feels that she learned a lot from Minnesota, learning more about her individual strengths and weaknesses as a player has also improved her game.
As transfers go at BU, these two standout players are not anomalies. Recent transfers like senior defender and co-captain Alexis Crossley and recent graduate Shannon Doyle fit in nicely as well — a credit to Durocher and his staff.
Transferring schools, especially from a successful program, is a life-changing decision, and Durocher equates it to recruiting in some ways.
“People think they want to be at maybe a smaller school or more traditional campus-y school, and then maybe a year or two later they look up and find out, ‘Gee Boston can be pretty exciting’ or, ‘That BU is a great school academically so if the stars line up, that might be a good place to look at,’” he said. “That’s been one of the common threads I’ve seen with the seven, eight or nine transfers here in our time as a program.”
Parker looked at multiple schools in the Boston area for graduate school, and while academics played a major role, her remaining year of hockey eligibility also went into the decision-making process.
After speaking with Durocher and noting the continuous success of the hockey program, Parker chose BU.
The move across the river wasn’t difficult for Parker. She found her place at student-athlete orientation and a team bonding trip to Vermont. She even got to keep her number, 15, which she’s donned since freshman year at Harvard.
She said she’s enjoying her last year of college hockey and the subtle differences between Harvard and BU.
“Each team especially in college hockey has a routine in a way of what they do pregame in terms of forming up off ice, playing different music in the locker room, how you line up for the national anthem and what you do when the starters are announced,” Parker said. “So to get to experience all those pre-game rituals for the first time was something that was exciting.”
Rodgers had a bit more drastic of a decision to make. Growing up in Minnesota, Rodgers said it was always a goal and an honor to wear the “M.” She felt at home there, and her grandmother would often come to watch her play.
Rodgers said she doesn’t regret the move, and although she does miss being able to hop in the car and drive home, she’s found things to love about Boston.
“My favorite part is being able to jump on a bus or train and just get to any part of the city and go find my favorite coffee shop,” Rodgers said.
While both players left a lot on the table to come here, they have found their respective niches and should continue to add to their impressive resumes throughout the remainder of their BU careers.
“I think for the most part the kids were very accomplished at the other schools,” Durocher said. “But whether it was the change in scenery maybe the stars weren’t lining up in the hockey program for different reasons. They came here and they certainly played with good players while they were here. I don’t think we waved a magic wand or they were tremendously different.”
Though there’s no magic involved, it’s no mistake that transfer upon transfer has found success under Durocher, now in his 12th year with the Terriers. Rodgers and Parker will eventually move on, but the transfer legacy associated with this program endures.
