Ice Hockey, Sports

Schuler’s 3 goals, Davis’ tying goal highlights win, tie in wild weekend against Merrimack

Junior forward Deziray tallied an assist in one of three goals form sophomore forward Kristina Schuler this weekend. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/ DFP FILE PHOTO

Riding a five-game winning streak, No. 10 Boston University women’s hockey played a home-home series against Merrimack College (14-9-4, 10-8-1 Hockey East), a team just one place behind BU in the Hockey East standings.

The Terriers (14-6-6, 11-5-5 Hockey East) collected a 6-3 win Friday at home and split the points for a 3-3 tie on the road Saturday.

Merrimack opened the scoring books early, with forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis lighting the lamp off an assist from linemate Katelyn Rae less than two-and-a-half minutes into the period.

The play went under review to see if the puck had crossed the goal line, but Merrimack got the benefit as the call stood.

Coming into the second period down 0-1, BU exchanged shots back and forth with the Warriors for 10 minutes. At 10:33, sophomore forward Kristina Schuler evened the game up.

One minute later, freshman forward Mackenna Parker caught a tip off of senior defender Reagan Rust’s attempted shot, and it slipped by Warrior goaltender Samantha Ridgewell to give the Terriers the lead.

The middle stanza show did not end here for the Terriers. Just after the 17 minute mark, freshman forward Emma Wuthrich brought the Terrier lead up to 3-1, with assists from linemates sophomore Nara Elia and junior Deziray De Sousa.

Fifty-two seconds later, Schuler showed up again to give BU their fourth goal of the game.

BU head coach Brian Durocher acknowledged the effort that the trio of Schuler, De Sousa and Elia put in Friday night.

“We got a couple of great chips from Kristina Schuler, Deziray De Sousa and Nara Elia,” Durocher said. “Even before they got a goal, they put up more pressure on their [defense].”

Merrimack scored two goals in the third period, and BU’s lead was down to one with a minute remaining in regulation.

However, the Terriers didn’t let Merrimack come back to tie. Redshirt junior forward Sammy Davis tallied a goal, and Parker scored on an empty net 20 seconds later.

With the 6-3 win locked up, the Terriers increased their win streak to six.

“[Sometimes] us coaches want a perfect game,” Durocher said about letting Merrimack get within one in the third. “But we stayed on course for 53, 54 minutes and found a way in the end to get some open-net goals.”

Saturday’s game had a similar start to Friday’s: Merrimack got on the board first, with Grant-Menis notching her second goal of the series to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead three minutes in.

And just like Friday, BU managed to recover from the one goal deficit.

Schuler showed up again for the Terriers to tie the game 15 minutes into the period, then junior defender Abby Cook gave BU the 2-1 lead three minutes later on the power play. Over the next two periods, Merrimack lit the lamp twice — courtesy of forward Jessica Bonfe and Rae —  to grab the lead back and set the game at 3-2.

The Terriers weren’t finished, though. With an extra attacker and 1:03 remaining in regulation, Davis scored to tie the game and take it into overtime.

Merrimack spent two minutes of the additional period on the power play, but BU was able to kill the penalty. Terrier sophomore goaltender Corinne Schroeder made four saves in two minutes to see the game out 3-3.

BU will get one point from Saturday’s bout — a point Durocher said is valuable.

“In the end, the tie was a point that will find to be a big point down the road,” he said.

The Terriers will play their last game before the beanpot in Burlington, Vermont, on Feb. 1 against the University of Vermont.

Durocher said the Catamounts (7-16-4, 5-13-2 Hockey East) are going to be a tough opponent despite their Hockey East record.

“If you look at the standings, Vermont is fighting for their life, trying to get any points they can,” Durocher said.  “They can get a good crowd [in Burlington], so we’re going to be playing against a good crowd and a very hungry team.”





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