The Boston University women’s hockey team will begin Beanpot tournament play Tuesday at 5 p.m. against No. 6 Northeastern University at the Bright Hockey Center.
In their previous meeting on Jan. 26, the Huskies (16-5-3, 8-4-4-3) and Terriers (10-8-9, 6-6-4-2) battled to a 2-2 tie, with the Huskies capturing the extra point in a shootout. They will meet two more times in the next two weeks before the season ends.
Most recently, the Terriers lost a frustrating 2-0 contest to the No. 8 University of Connecticut, dropping them into fifth place in Hockey East behind the University of New Hampshire. Northeastern is holding on to a narrow one-point lead over No. 9 Providence College for first place.
In last year’s Beanpot, the Terriers edged the Huskies, 2-1, in the consolation game to claim third place. BU never won first place in the tournament, which has been dominated by Harvard and Northeastern since its creation in 1981. However, BU coach Brian Durocher has characterized this year’s tournament as a ‘wide-open battle.’
‘Some things have happened here recently that have changed each team, and three of the four teams have had some losses,’ Durocher said.
He referred to the fact that BU will be playing without high-scoring sophomore forward Jenelle Kohanchuk, who recently injured her thumb, while Northeastern will lose sophomore goaltender Florence Schelling and junior defenseman Julia Marty to the Olympics – each woman is playing for Switzerland.
Playing without Schelling, who boasts the best save percentage and goals-against average in Hockey East, could pose a problem for the Huskies, who have won a number of low-scoring games this year thanks to their elite netminder. But their backup goalie, junior Leah Sulyma, has performed capably, allowing only seven goals in five starts this year ‘- the Huskies are too strong a team to be crippled by the loss of a player or two.
The same is true for the Terriers. Kohanchuk is a valuable part of the team’s offense, but when she missed a series of games in January to play in a tournament for the Canadian U-22 team, senior forwards Melissa Anderson and Laurel Koller, among others, stepped up their offensive contributions to propel the Terriers to success.
The Terriers have been very active in the last two weeks, playing five games, including two midweek ones, which Durocher said is ideal for this point in the season.
‘I don’t see us as tired or beat up or anything from the games, and at this time of year you’re not really looking to have those long weeks with a lot of practice,’ he said. ‘You’ve worked hard all year from spring to summer to fall, and at this point you like to play games. I think the kids enjoy that we play midweek games, and the schedule setup is fine. ‘
Northeastern has not played since facing the Terriers on Jan. 26, and have not lost since falling to Boston College, 5-3, on Jan. 8. Like the Terriers, they will have only four regular-season games remaining after the Beanpot and are looking to finish a strong season on a high note.
Durocher said the team is looking forward to the tournament, and that winning the championship this year is truly ‘anybody’s game.’
‘For a while this was pretty much a two-team horse race between Harvard and Northeastern, but lately there have been a couple titles for BC and a couple appearances in the finals for BU,’ Durocher said. ‘And that’s what makes this a fun tournament.’
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