Sunday night was Senior Night at Walter Brown Arena for the Boston University women’s ice hockey team, the ending to the Terriers’ 2008-09 regular season. And what an emphatic end it was.’
Eight different Terrier (17-10-7, 14-6-1 Hockey East) seniors scored on Sunday, leading the team to an 8-1 victory that sent Northeastern University (12-19-3, 7-13-1) reeling.
BU’s veteran players made sure their opponents and their fans knew why the night belonged to them.
The assertive win capped off the Terriers’ successful weekend series against the Huskies after BU shut out Northeastern 3-0 on Saturday.’ ‘ ‘
Senior Gina Kearns made Terrier history last night when she tallied her 100th career point with an assist on freshman Jenelle Kohanchuk’s first-period goal. Kearns went on to make it a two-point night with her third short-handed tally of the season.
‘It’s kind of like getting a monkey off my back,’ Kearns said. ‘My teammates have constantly been reminding me about it. My parents have been to every game since point 90.’
Senior Erin Seman and junior Melissa Anderson earned three points each yesterday to supplement their team’s overwhelming offensive performance. The Terriers outshot the Huskies 83-37 over the two games of the weekend series.
‘Today, all the stars lined up offensively,’ BU coach Brian Durocher said. ‘There was a little bit of extra momentum that was going our way with the great crowd and Senior Night. Everything kind of snowballed in the right direction for us.’
Senior Allyse Wilcox was nearly perfect over the weekend, allowing only one goal in two games and stopping every shot she faced on Saturday.’ ‘ ‘
Four different players scored for the Terriers in the first period alone yesterday. Sophomore Leah Sulyma replaced freshman Florence Shelling in the goal for the Huskies after a tiring 38-save performance the day before. The sophomore was not supported by her defense, and had little time to rest against the Terriers’ surging offense that outshot the Huskies, 19-6, in the first period.’ ‘
It only took freshman Jenelle Kohanchuk about eight minutes to secure her fourth consecutive two-point game. Kohanchuk assisted on the Terriers’ first two goals.
Sophomore Jillian Kirchner scored on the first shot of the game at 16:12. Kohanchuk’s shot from the left side of the net rebounded directly to the charging Kirchner, who slammed home the puck to lift the Terriers to a 1-0 lead.
Senior Gina Kearns was next, making a textbook goal on a two-on-one breakaway. Kohanchuk intercepted a pass near center ice during a Terrier penalty kill and fed the puck to Kearns, who sped down the ice to score at the 7:45 mark.’ ‘
Northeastern junior Lindsay Berman caught Wilcox off-guard after a scrum in front of the net, tapping in the puck for an easy goal at 11:44. It would be Northeastern’s only goal of the night.
Both teams were silent for the rest of the period until the final minute. At 19:14 freshman Tara Watchorn scored off sophomore Lauren Cherewyk’s assist. Forty-three seconds later, and with just three seconds left in the period, Anderson scored her lone goal of the night on an assist by freshman Kasey Boucher to make the score 4-1.
The Terriers’ late-period goals ended Sulyma’s night early, sending Schelling back into the line of fire in net. The change slowed the Terriers for a while, but did little to stop BU’s onslaught for the rest of the game.
Seman scored after taking a pass from senior Amanda Shaw, sneaking in her 10th of the season near the end of the second period. Just over a minute later, Cherewyk scored her 12th of the season off Anderson’s faceoff win during a four-on-four situation.
In a second four-on-four play, senior Nikki Wiart netted her first goal of the season early in the third period. Fellow senior Kelley Karnan dished the puck to Wiart, who banged in the puck off a Northeastern defender’s stick. Senior Sarah Russell ended the Terriers’ scoring night three minutes later when she scored during a BU power play.
The Terriers will host the Huskies again at Walter Brown Arena next Saturday at 3 p.m. in the first round of the Women’s Hockey East Tournament.
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