The No. 10 Boston University women’s hockey team lost both games in a home-and-home series with the University of Connecticut this weekend.
On Friday, the Terriers (7-6-7, 4-4-3-2 Hockey East) were unable to hold onto an early lead and lost 4-3. On Saturday, UConn (8-5-4, 2-3-4-1) bested them in a shootout, winning 2-1.
The Terriers started strong on Friday, gaining a 2-0 lead in the early minutes of the second period. Sophomore defenseman Kasey Boucher opened the scoring with a one-timer near the end of the first period, and sophomore forward Jenelle Kohanchuk extended her team lead in goals (12) just 22 seconds into the second.
But the momentum, which had belonged to the Terriers after Kohanchuk’s goal, seemed to hinge on a UConn power play midway through the period, when sophomore defenseman Sami Evelyn found the back of the net with a slap shot to tie the score. The Huskies eventually scored three straight goals in the second period to pull ahead, and increased their lead to 4-2 when Evelyn scored again 1:55 into the third.
Junior forward Jillian Kirchner scored her fifth goal of the year to cut UConn’s lead in half early in the final period, and junior forward Lauren Cherewyk registered a career-high third assist of the game on Kirchner’s tally. But the Terriers, who were outshot, 13-5, in the final frame, were unable to regain the lead, sustaining their ninth loss in the all-time series against UConn.
On Saturday, the Terriers controlled the pace of the game through the first period, outshooting UConn, 10-5. The Kohanchuk line controlled the puck well in the offensive zone, creating the opportunity for senior forward Laurel Koller’s goal at 14:14. Freshman forward Shannon Mahoney collected her first career assist on the goal.
Overall, BU was more disciplined than it had been in recent outings, not taking any penalties in the first period. However, BU coach Brian Durocher pointed out his team’s failure to score on any of its three power plays in the second as a turning point in the game.
‘We were a little better than we were [on Friday] at relieving pressure, but we didn’t turn it into shots on goal,’ Durocher said. ‘We really never made the third pass that we needed to make to score.’
Midway through the third period, Kohanchuk crashed the net after a shot by junior forward Holly Lorms, and appeared to knock home the rebound. Although the light behind the goal went on, both officials ruled that there had been no goal.
Just over a minute later, UConn sophomore forward Monique Weber beat Haber on an odd-man rush to score her team-leading eighth goal of the year.
The Terrier offense, particularly Cherewyk and Kirchner, kept up the pressure in UConn’s zone with strong forechecking late in the third period, but the Husky defense clogged up the shooting lanes in front of sophomore goaltender Alexandra Garcia to preserve the tie and force overtime.
No one scored in overtime, so the teams proceeded to a shootout. The Huskies’ first shooter, senior Amy Hollstein, scored what turned out to be the only goal they would need, skating in on Haber at a sharp angle and scoring through the five-hole. All three BU shooters attempted to shoot low on Garcia, and she denied all three chances, securing UConn’s victory.
Despite the tough loss, Durocher was relatively upbeat after the game and focused on the improvements the Terriers made from Friday to Saturday.
‘When we got the puck, we were receiving well,’ he said. ‘There was much more crisp passing today than yesterday, and we kept the pace up moving out of our zone. Yesterday, we were a little looser, and we weren’t backing each other up, but today we did it the whole 200 feet.’
Durocher also noted that the Terriers were shorthanded on the blue line, playing without senior co-captain Melissa Tetreau, who was a late scratch due to injury. However, he said that aside from playing with only five defensemen, fatigue did not seem to hinder the team.
‘It wasn’t a problem,’ he said. ‘Fatigue only happens when you’re not playing a smart game. Overall, I’m pleased with our effort.’
