The No. 10 Boston University women’s hockey team will get its first-ever taste of Hockey East semifinals play against No. 6 Boston College tomorrow in Durham, N.H.
‘I think everybody is very excited,’ BU coach Brian Durocher said of his team’s attitude heading into the game. ‘Our charge is to take the emotion and turn it into a victory there and get into the championship game, which would be another first for this program.
Tomorrow’s contest marks the biggest game in the program’s four-year history as part of NCAA
Division-I, coming five days after the Terriers (18-10-7, 14-6-1 HE) regained their top-10 national ranking since losing it in early January.
Standing defiantly between BU and the conference finals is cross-town rival and this year’s
Beanpot champion, BC. The Eagles (21-7-5, 14-5-2) finished second in Hockey East, giving them a bye week last weekend while the Terriers skated to a 2-1 victory to knock off
Northeastern University. The other two teams competing for the Hockey East crown are fourth-seeded Providence College and the No. 5 University of New Hampshire, which finished atop the regular-season standings.
‘The biggest team issue is for us to avoid letting [BC] get on runs,’ Durocher said. ‘They’re a team that likes to make one goal, three goals real fast. We’ve gotta button down the hatches and not let them get on two-, three-, multiple-goal runs.’
BU and BC split their first two games this season. The first, on Nov. 22 at BC’s Kelley Rink, ended in a 4-1 Terrier triumph, thanks in part to three points from freshman phenom Jenelle
Kohanchuk. Her two assists and one score were accompanied by senior netminder Allyse Wilcox’s 24 saves on the day.
The Eagles got revenge at Walter Brown Arena on Dec. 10, becoming the second team of the season to shut BU out after a 5-0 blowout. The Eagle victory featured a hat trick by junior forward Allie Thunstrom and 25 saves from junior goalie Molly Schaus.
The Eagles then dealt the Terriers their sole in-conference shootout loss after a 3-3 tie on Feb. 14 on Chestnut Hill. BU’s Kohanchuk notched two goals in that game, and Wilcox turned in 23 saves.
Kohanchuk’s performance against BC this year bodes well for the Terriers. The freshman was also named the TPS Hockey Player of the Week for this week after burying the winning goal against Northeastern in the third period of last Saturday’s game. She was also named Mission
Rookie of the Month for February, even after missing the first three games of the month during a bout of mononucleosis. Kohanchuk hit the ground running upon her return, notching four consecutive multi-point games. In her last six games, she has scored six goals and added four assists.
Wilcox also received the honor this week of being chosen to participate in the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge on April 10, an event that features top seniors from across the nation.
The Eagles can boast a few postseason honors of their own. Schaus was named the ITECH Goaltender of the Month in Hockey East for February with a 1.02 goals-against average and a .957 save percentage in 7 games. Schaus, who leads the conference in goals-against average and save percentage, was also announced as one of 10 finalists for the 2009 Patty Kazmaier
Memorial Award, which honors the top player in NCAA D-I each year.
Durocher called BU’s win over Northeastern ‘a character-builder, a nail-biter, that we had to win,’ and said it might benefit his team tomorrow.
Nevertheless, in the team’s longest foray into postseason hockey, Durocher said his players are ‘gonna have to bring their A-game’ to have success.
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