After a month on the road, the Boston University women’s hockey team is coming home on a high.
The No. 10 Terriers culminated their grueling five-game road trip with a 3-1 victory over conference nemesis Providence College on Saturday.
The win marked a reversal of fortunes in a series that had, until Saturday, been entirely one-sided. The Friars have dominated this five-year rivalry, winning 23-of-27 games, including all six held in Providence.’ ‘ ‘
‘This was lucky number seven, I guess,’ BU coach Brian Durocher said.
In a scene that looked all too familiar, the Friars (3-4-2, 2-1-0 Hockey East) dominated the first period, firing 10 shots on goal, but sophomore goalkeeper Melissa Haber stood tall, holding the home team scoreless as the period ended, 0-0.
Early in the second period, however, the Terriers (3-1-4, 1-0-0) began to seize control. Just 2:27 into the period, junior Holly Lorms won a skirmish in front of the net and found freshman Britt Hergesheimer at the top of the left faceoff circle. Hergesheimer rifled a shot into the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
BU was in the lead until the end of the period. With just under two minutes to play in the period, Providence sophomore Ashley Cottrell went coast to coast, beating three Terrier defenders, and finished with a shot under the pads of Haber, to even the score at one apiece heading into the final period.
It was the final stanza when sophomore Jenelle Kohanchuk decided enough was enough. At the end of a BU power play, junior Jillian Kirchner stole the puck from a Providence defender deep in Friar territory and muscled it to Kohanchuk, who stuffed it past goalie Genevieve Lacasse to give the Terriers a lead they would never relinquish.
The defense held strong for the remainder of the game, the score remaining 2-1 until Kohanchuk scored on an empty net with three seconds left to seal the victory. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native has recorded a point in four-straight games and now has a team-leading eight goals on the season.
‘Her goal production is great,’ Durocher said, ‘but she is also adapting into a new role of killing penalties for us.
‘She is definitely on a roll and we are taking advantage of it.’
After two sub-par periods to start the game, the Terriers locked in and controlled the final 20 minutes of play.
‘We didn’t play great,’ Durocher said. ‘We played a strong third period and got some good bounces.’
The team finished 2-1-2 on the five-game road trip with their lone loss coming against an impressive No. 4 Clarkson University team. They played to a 2-2 tie against a good No. 7 St. Lawrence team and took care of business against Wayne State University and Providence College.
‘Overall, it was a positive road trip,’ Durocher said. ‘It’s fun to be back.
‘Hopefully the fans will come out to cheer us on against Boston College.’
The Terriers welcome their Commonwealth Avenue neighbors Monday night at Walter Brown arena.
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