The Boston University women’s ice hockey team (5-1-3, 4-0-3 Hockey East) took down the Providence College Friars (3-2-2, 2-1 HE) in Rhode Island by a score of 2-1 in a special Halloween matchup on Sunday.
After an even-keeled shootout victory against the University of Vermont Catamounts on Oct. 29 at home, the Terriers took the day off on Saturday before heading down to Providence to face the Friars. The Terriers, who struggled to produce offensively on Friday, found their stride early in the Sunday matchup, getting on the board twice in the first period.
“It looked like a completely different team than Friday night,” head coach Brian Durocher said in the postgame press conference. “Right from the get-go we started collecting pucks, catching passes, and confidence sort of built from there.”
In a much more aggressive start to their play, the Terriers came out with more energy than they had to start any game this season with improved zone time and intensified puck pressure. Despite an early penalty on senior defenseman Alex Allan, the squad worked seamlessly to protect their net and keep the score at zero in the opening minutes of play.
Just over a minute after the Terriers returned to even strength, sophomore forward Clare O’Leary’s pass from the corner bounced off of grad student goaltender Sandra Abstreiter and onto the stick of sophomore forward Catherine Foulem, who was able to snipe the puck over the shoulder of Abstreiter and into the net. Foulem’s second goal of the season put the Terriers ahead by one, and the assist was O’Leary’s first point of two in the game.
“I thought [O’Leary] played very well,” Durocher said. “She protects the puck well, she’s strong with the puck and whatever speed she plays the game at, it doesn’t drop when she gets the puck.”
The first frame continued to see exchanges from both sides right until the finishing seconds of the period when freshman forward Christina Vote upped the Terriers’ lead to two. The goal — which came thanks to assists from O’Leary and Foulem — came on a two-on-one breakaway. Vote snuck in front of both defenders to shoot the puck glove-side high over Abstreiter at 19:53 of the first period, securing a two-goal lead and a morale booster heading into the locker room.
“Vote has been probably the most consistent [player] along the way,” Durocher said.
The second period saw no goals but four penalty minutes on both sides, as Vote took a matching tripping penalty with Providence senior forward Sara Hjalmarsson and spent two minutes in the box. Despite the four-on-four disadvantage, the Terriers continued to dominate in zone time and create plenty of opportunities.
At 13:26 in the second, Friar senior forward Ciara Barone was sent to the sin bin for two minutes on an interference call, but the Terriers couldn’t capitalize on the advantage and the penalty came to a close. Five minutes later, Vote received her own penalty for interference — her second call of the game. The Terriers killed off the penalty with a strong defensive effort led by senior goaltender Kate Stuart.
Arguably Stuart’s best save of the game came when leading Friar goal-scorer and grad student forward Hayley Lunny stormed the net on a breakaway and had her first attempt bounce off of Stuart’s glove. Lunny then picked up her own rebound and again tried to tuck the puck past Stuart, who was ready to glove the puck out of play.
“You have a pretty good chance to get some wins or points when you only give up one goal,” Durocher said. “[Stuart] just continues to be super steady and strong and gets to some backdoor plays that always seem like they’re impossible, but she finds a way.”
After the Vote penalty expired 42 seconds into the third period, the game shifted toward the Friars, who outshot the Terriers 19-12 in the final 20 minutes. Three minutes back to even strength, Hjalmarsson gave the Friars their best opportunity of the night with an impressive breakaway shot that bounced off the post.
Despite not getting the puck in then, Hjalmarsson would be back five minutes later, picking up the puck from freshman forward Ashlyn Garnett and sniping it over Stuart’s shoulder from the top of the left circle to cut the Terrier’s lead to one. Two minutes after the goal, senior forward Mackenna Parker took what could have been a game-shifting penalty for slashing, giving the Friars two minutes with an extra player.
Terrier sophomore defensemen Tamara Giaquinto and Andi Calderone ensured that the score remained 2-1 by throwing themselves in front of their competitors’ attempts and blocking shots until the penalty expired. As time winded down, the Terriers maintained their intensity on defense to secure their 2-1 victory.
“I think the biggest difference was that we collected pucks,” Durocher said. “We just played at a different tempo because we were catching passes.”
Next week, the Terriers will face the University of Connecticut Huskies in a home-and-home battle beginning in Storrs, Connecticut, on Nov. 5 before returning to Walter Brown Arena on Saturday, Nov. 6, for a 3 p.m. puck drop.
For complete BU hockey coverage, check out the Boston Hockey Blog and follow along with @BOShockeyblog on Twitter and @boston.hockey.blog on Instagram for updates.
