No. 4 Terriers boost unbeaten stretch to 7 against Providence

Coming in on a six-game unbeaten streak, the No. 4 Boston University women’s ice hockey team extended its run to seven contests Monday against Providence College, earning the 3-1 home victory.

Having avoided defeat since Nov. 11 when they were thrashed by Northeastern University by a score of 6-3 at Walter Brown Arena, the Terriers (12-3-2, 8-2 Hockey East) came into Monday’s clash with a 5-0-1 record in their previous six matchups.

Meanwhile, after going winless for their first 12 games of the season, the Friars (3-14-3, 2-6-1 Hockey East) rebounded for two wins in their last four contests, including a 2-1 overtime win over conference contender University of Maine on Nov 23.

Keeping its aggressive first-period trend going, BU scored in the initial frame for the fourth straight game versus Providence.

After junior forward Dakota Woodworth delivered a crisp outlet pass to junior winger Kayla Tutino, the Lorraine, Quebec native raced the puck up ice on a two-on-one bid. Deking Friar goaltender Allie Morse to set up a wrist shot from just inside the right circle, Tutino’s attempt clanged off the post. However, the Terriers got some puck luck early, as senior defenseman Shannon Stoneburgh slapped in the easy rebound opportunity at the crease for the lead and her first goal of the season just over two minutes into the first period.

Despite the early score and a 12-8 shot advantage, the Terriers largely struggled to generate scoring opportunities late in the first stanza due to an influx of penalties. BU took three penalties over the final 11 minutes of the frame, and another three in the second period.

Even though the Terriers killed off all six penalties and the eight they accumulated for the game, BU coach Brian Durocher said he was not impressed with his squad’s discipline on the ice.

“[We took] too many [penalties],” Durocher said. “We just have to avoid taking some liberties and getting ourselves in compromising positions where we have to take penalties and keep people to the outside with our sticks extended. We were letting people get into places where maybe we had to or we had a little bit of the short side of the call. But again, we’ve got to be better in that area, and we weren’t tonight.”

Perhaps exhausted from the penalty kill, BU’s defense had trouble clearing the puck to begin the second period, which resulted in two breakaway opportunities for Providence. The Friars converted on the first of these breakaways when freshman Brooke Boquist received the two-on-one pass from fellow forward Cassidy Carels and ripped a perfect shot from the right circle past freshman goaltender Erin O’Neil’s glove side.

Boquist’s goal at the 4:25 mark knotted the game up at one and put unexpected pressure on the Terriers for the rest of the period. Even though Durocher said the goal was a bit fluky, he was displeased with his team’s effort on defense for a large part of the second frame.

“On the two-on-one goal, we had a funny turnover right up near the blue line, and the [defense] tried to step up, and they got a two-on-one and made a good shot,” he said. “That play was a little bit circumstantial, but the overall tone of our play for the better part of 30 minutes was not very smart, not very quick, not very intense, and I’m not sure we even needed to sharpen skates because all we were doing was circling around.”

Following a timeout, however, the Terriers played with renewed intensity. When Providence took an interference penalty on the power play to put the teams in a four-on-four situation, BU senior defenseman Shannon Doyle took advantage of the miscue. Just five seconds after the Friar penalty at the 18:49 mark, she received a pass and a screen from sophomore center Maddie Elia before launching a successful slap shot from the blue line to give the Terriers the 2-1 lead.

Despite taking another two penalties in the third period, BU kept up its defensive intensity from the late second stanza and got some help from Friar miscues on its way to preserving the 2-1 lead late into the period. With less than one minute to go in the contest and Providence threatening, Tutino took a crucial penalty. Yet senior captain Marie-Philip Poulin capped BU’s scoring with an empty-net goal from the opposing blue line to seal the deal for the Terriers in the 3-1 victory.

Though Durocher expressed his relief after the win, he said BU has a ways to go before it reaches the upper-echelon of college hockey.

“I’d like to think we can put two games together in a weekend. We played a great game at [the University of] Vermont, and today we reverted back,” Durocher said. “We’re not going to be able to revert back if we want to be part of that elite five, six, seven or eight teams in the country. You’ve got to be ready to play 60 minutes most nights, and we didn’t do a very good job.”