Women’s hockey set for weekend series against Connecticut

Following their 4-3 OT win on Saturday against the No. 11 University of Vermont (8-5-1, 6-3-1 Hockey East), the Boston University Terriers women’s ice hockey team (4-8-0, 3-7-0 HE) will face off against the No. 12 University of Connecticut Huskies (10-4-2, 6-4-2 HE) in a Hockey East home-and-home matchup this weekend. 

The Terriers’ win in the second game of last weekend’s Vermont series stopped a three game losing streak in its tracks, which they will look to build off of. 

Last season, the Terriers and Huskies faced off in four competitive matchups, all being decided by a one or two goal margin. The Terriers lost both matchups in early November, before tying one game and losing the final matchup in February. 

UConn is currently tied with Providence College (10-4-1, 7-3-1 HE) for third place in the Hockey East standings, while BU is ninth. Only the Holy Cross Crusaders (2-11-1, 1-9-0 HE) sit below them at 10th. 

Following this weekend, the Terriers will head to Las Vegas, Nevada for the Henderson Collegiate Hockey Showcase where they will face Yale (4-0-0)  and the winner of Penn State (10-5-1) and Minnesota (9-1-1). A strong showing against Connecticut will be paramount for the Terriers to get their season back on track as the competition does not get any easier in a league like Hockey East. 

A bright spot for the Terriers last weekend was junior forward Lacey Martin’s playmaking ability. In a three point afternoon on Saturday, Martin scored in the first period to gain the lead, assisted on junior forward Madison Cardaci’s goal to tie the game, and finally scored during the overtime period. 

Martin seems to be hitting her stride offensively at a time when her Terrier squad needs it. Scoring continues to be a struggle across the board, but following some recent confidence lifting play, the Terriers should be able to propel their positive momentum forward. 

Goaltending continues to be up in the air, as sophomore Callie Shanahan and graduate student Andrea Brändli have been splitting time between the pipes. Saturday marked Shanahan’s first win of the season, with 25 saves, while Friday afternoon Brändli got the start and had 31 saves in the loss. 

Both goalies have played well on the whole this year, clearly leaving a difficult decision for the coaching staff in determining a sole starter. 

Friday’s matchup against the Huskies will be in Storrs, Connecticut with a 6 p.m. puck drop. And Saturday will be a 3 p.m. start from Walter Brown Arena. 

The Boston Hockey Blog will have continued full coverage of both Boston University men’s and women’s ice hockey so be sure to follow along with us on Twitter @BosHockeyBlog and Instagram @Boston.Hockey.Blog.