The Boston University women’s hockey team (4-1-2) spent their weekend in upstate New York to play Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (3-4) and Union College (2-6-1). Coming away with three out of the available six points, the Terriers lost 4-2 on Friday and won 4-1 on Saturday.
In their loss on Friday against RPI, senior forward Courtney Correia and junior forward Julia Nearis had the squad’s two tallies. Not enough to get past the Engineers, the end of the third marked BU’s first official loss of the season following their last two ties.
The game seemed within reach, tied 2-2 until the later minutes of the third but junior forward Julia Blitz swung the momentum at 18:46 with a power play goal to gain the 3-2 advantage for her group. Scoring an empty net goal soon after, senior forward Mikayla Capelle sealed the deal for RPI reaching the final 4-2 score.
There’s no doubt this loss stung for the Terriers as the game fell through their fingers during the last moments of regulation. Perhaps it’s this frustration that fueled BU’s eventual turnaround on Saturday in Troy, New York.
The opening 20 minutes against Union was rocky for the scarlet and white. The Dutchwomen got on the board within 60 seconds as senior forward Grace Heiting worked her way through four BU players to then release a snapshot that soared past senior netminder Kate Stuart’s right side. The Terriers also found themselves in the box three times in the first period, giving their opponents unnecessary opportunities to build on their lead.
Senior forward Emma Wuthrich got her squad back in the competition, knotting the score at 1-1 at 16:28. Wuthrich scooped up a loose puck to the side of Union’s net, spun around, and fired one that sophomore goaltender Olivia Rinzel couldn’t stop. This was the forward’s first goal of the season.
The Terriers had some jump coming into the second period, skating with a little more speed and putting together cohesive plays in the offensive and defensive zones. Correia garnered her second goal of the weekend in the middle frame with a tap-in rebound goal with under 30 seconds to play.
Coming into the third with their first lead of the afternoon, the women seemed determined to get themselves back in the win column. The BU bench started looking a little bit more like the team we saw two weekends ago: having fun, working together, and playing a disciplined style of hockey.
Sophomore forward Catherine Foulem scored her first of the 2021-2022 campaign to bolster her team’s advantage to 3-1. Her snapshot from the middle of the zone went bar down, giving the Terriers some breathing room with a little under 10 minutes left on the clock.
To add the cherry on top, graduate student and forward Ellie Larson also secured her first of the season with an empty net goal that she had to hustle for at 17:50. She has skated with the team for four of their seven games this year and was a big part of the Terrier victory, putting in the extra effort whenever on the ice.
BU gets to drive home happily with their matinee win as they head into the next week of hockey. The group will host the University of Vermont at Walter Brown Arena this Friday at 6:00p.m. and then head to Rhode Island on Sunday for a 3:00p.m. start against Providence College. We’ll have updates throughout the week on Twitter (@BOShockeyblog) and Instagram (@boston.hockey.blog).
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