In the opening weekend of its first-ever road trip, the Boston University women’s ice hockey team left the University of Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse with its first conference win, 4-1, and another 3-3 tie. The pair of games marked another successful weekend for the first-year Terriers.
The Terriers (3-1-3, 1-1-2 Hockey East) wore out the Catamounts’ solid defense and outplayed them offensively over the final four periods of the series. Although they struggled early in the first game, the Terriers came back in the second to overwhelm Vermont.
“The games were really two different stories,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “We didn’t play well in the first game, but on Sunday we were a whole new team.”
BU found it hard to break through Vermont’s defensive wall in the opening period of Saturday’s game, putting only three shots on goal in the first. Meanwhile, Vermont (0-5-2, 0-1-1) unloaded 27 shots on freshman goaltender Allyse Wilcox in the first 20 minutes.
Hilary Johnson took four of those shots and found the back of the net midway through the first period. The senior took control of a rebound off of Wilcox and jammed it home. Johnson’s goal gave the Catamounts a 1-0 lead and snapped their steak of 11 scoreless periods.
Four minutes later, Vermont struck again. This time, sophomore Caroline Donahue grabbed a rebound in front of Wilcox and put it right past the Terrier goalie.
“We stumbled coming out of the gate,” Durocher said. “Vermont, on the other hand, was playing its best hockey.”
It was more bad news for the Terriers when sophomore Frankie Williams flipped a one-timer over a sprawling Wilcox to give the Catamounts a 3-0 lead with 17:36 left in the second frame.
The Terriers managed to scrape together a goal in the final minutes of the second. Vermont’s Jenny Hogan was given two minutes for tripping and BU’s special teams came through on the power play once again. Junior Jessica Lortie notched her first goal of the season, beginning a comeback that mirrored the one against Boston College earlier last week.
“We were the comeback kids again,” Durocher said.
They were, though not until the very end. In the dying minutes of the third period, BU scored not once, but twice with Wilcox pulled out of goal. Freshman Laurel Koller scored her fourth goal in three games with 1:47 left in regulation to cut the deficit to 3-2.
“Laurel gave us a huge lift,” Durocher said.
Genevieve Laing gave BU the equalizer with only 12 seconds to play in the third. The freshman scored off an assist by classmate Sarah Russell. It was Russell’s second assist of the game and the season.
“Russell played well all weekend,” Durocher said. “She was very competitive and she challenged Vermont’s offense on the defensive end.”
Despite a few chances to get the win in overtime, the Terriers had to settle for another tie, one that looked more like an escape than anything – the Catamounts outshot the Terriers, 46-29.
The second game was a complete reversal of the first. It was the Terriers who came out firing while Vermont’s lackluster offense just couldn’t keep up.
“Our overall performance was like night and day from the first game to the second game,” Durocher said. “We played at an extremely high level in the second game and played with confidence.”
With 13:19 remaining in the second period, Koller broke open the scoreless game. She got her second goal of the weekend by tipping a slap shot by freshman Amanda Shaw (3 assists) past Catamount goalie Katie Nichols. Koller has five goals this season.
Shortly thereafter, Erin Seman notched the team’s second power play goal of the series. The freshman was forced to leave the game against BC early with a bruise to her left leg. She was at full strength for the Vermont games, however, and her presence on the ice was felt.
“She played much better today,” Durocher said. “She has always been a scorer, and this time she was in the right place after a great set of moves by Gina Kearns.”
Vermont finally netted its first goal on a power play with 7:35 remaining in the game. Freshman Nicki Wiart was sent to the penalty box for hooking, and senior forward Kate Hudspeth scored her second goal of the season off of a rebounded shot by Keane.
The Catamounts would not be making any comebacks, though. Wilcox made sure of that, as she made a combined 59 saves over the weekend. In the first game alone, she made a season-high 43.
“Wilcox was fantastic,” Durocher said. “She was the main story in the first game and she made solid saves in each game.”
With the score at 2-1, BU tacked on two more goals in the last five minutes of play off the sticks of sophomore Stephanie Armstrong and Wiart.
“I continue to be impressed by our teamwork and resiliency,” Durocher said. “We are getting good play from everyone, which bodes well for our team.”