The Boston University women’s hockey team won a 6-2 barn-burner against cross-river rival Harvard University Tuesday night at Walter Brown Arena.
The Terriers (8-4-1, 4-4-1 Hockey East) unleashed an offensive assault on the Crimson (5-1-0, 5-0-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference), with five different players finding the back of the net.
Sophomore forward Kaleigh Donnelly of BU did not suit-up for the game. Head coach Brian Durocher said Donnelly was bruised-up and was uncertain if she would play.
BU and Harvard got off to a relatively quiet start, but about halfway into the first period, both teams created opportunities in their respective offensive ends of the ice.
Going into the game, Harvard sophomore goaltender Lindsay Reed was undefeated before BU handed Reed her first loss of the season.
Facing Reed was Terrier junior goaltender Corrine Schroeder. Durocher said Schroeder’s consistency was her biggest strength.
“[She’s] highly consistent on how she’s played,” Durocher said. “The consistency is there, she’s finding some of the long-shots on the screen and power play. The stars are lining up pretty nicely all the way around.”
Both teams saw power play opportunities in the first period, but the Terriers were the only ones to capitalize on their player advantage.
Crimson forward Dominique Petrie was called for hooking at minute 17:44 of the period, less than 20 seconds after the Terriers killed off a penalty of their own.
Going into the power-play opportunity, BU had an overall success rate of 20 percent.
With 12 seconds remaining on the power play, Terrier red-shirt senior forward Sammy Davis found the back of the net. She received a pass from senior forward Natasza Tarnowski and shot the puck from the right face-off dot past Reed to open the scoring for the Terriers.
During the second period, the Terriers would find themselves on the player advantage two more times, both resulting in a goal, but not before the Crimson were able to get on the board.
Sophomore forward Kristin Della Rovere of Harvard was able to find the back of the net 4:10 into the second period of play. Junior forward Keely Moy of Harvard’s shot was blocked and Rovere picked up the rebound and slipped it just past BU’s goaltender to even the score at one per team.
Harvard would go on the penalty kill just under two minutes later for a holding penalty.
About 30 seconds later, junior forward Jesse Compher found the back of the net for the Terriers. Senior defenseman Abby Cook had the initial shot, bouncing it off of Reed’s pads. The rebound went airborn to an open Compher at the left face-off dot and was able to bat it out of the air and into the net to give Terriers the lead once again on the power play.
Just over two minutes later, the Terriers found themselves on the power play once again because of a tripping penalty 8:43 into the period.
With one second remaining on the player advantage, junior forward Nara Elia slammed one past Reed. Cook passed the puck to an open Compher in the left face-off circle who then shot it in to give the Terriers a two-goal lead.
Tarnowski won a faceoff and found Compher, who skated all the way up the left boards, right onto Reed. Compher faked going forehand and over Reed’s glove, but brought it to her backhand, shooting past Reed’s stick for her second goal of the game putting BU up 4-1 on a short-handed goal.
“We take a lot of pride in blocked shots and not only our wingers but our defense too do an outstanding job in that. So I think it’s something we are really skilled at as a team and I think it makes Schroeder’s job a bit easier,” Compher said on the defensive game. “Schroeder stood out again tonight.”
One minute later, Harvard scored on the power play as Moy was able to get one past Schroeder, bringing the score within two once again. However, it would be all BU from thereon out.
Junior forward Kristina Schuler would score her sixth of the season and fourth in three games to give a three-goal lead for the Terriers 11:57 into the final stanza.
13:34 into the period, BU was on the power play again — where they have been perfect all game so far — as Rovere was sent off for tripping.
Freshman forward Julia Nearis of BU would go on to score on the player advantage, scoring her team-leading seventh goal and keeping the Terriers a perfect 4-for-4 on the power play.
“You gotta give a little bit of luck, maybe there was a little bit involved there,” Durocher said on the success of his power play teams tonight. “I won’t say the kids moved the puck around really well … we’re getting a little bit of breaks.”
Schroeder was solid in the net for the Terriers, stopping 30 of the 32 shots that came her way.
BU will travel to Burlington, Vermont this weekend to take on the University of Vermont in a two-game back-to-back weekend series.
Durocher said the win gives the team some confidence to keep rolling.
“It’s nice to gain that type of confidence,” Durocher said, “get that type of confidence, and give ourselves a little bit of momentum going forward.”
Wow, incredible sports commentary. Have you ever thought of doing color commentary for BU Radio? These writing skills would transfer well.