Game Previews, Women's Hockey

WIH heads to Orono for one game against Maine

Photo by Cristina Romano.

The Boston University women’s hockey team (1-2-1, 0-2-0 Hockey East), fresh off its first win of the season, is headed to Orono to take on the University of Maine (3-4-0, 1-2-0 HE) on Saturday. 

A two-game series was originally scheduled for the weekend, however, Friday’s matchup has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date. The decision comes in the wake of the tragic shooting in Lewiston, Maine earlier this week. 

For the Terriers, Saturday’s game offers a chance to solidify their offensive prowess against an in-conference team and maintain the momentum the team built in its split two-game series against Syracuse last weekend. 

After tying the first game — and losing to Syracuse in a shootout that didn’t count for record — the dam broke and the Terriers scored six goals, completely overwhelming the Syracuse Orange defense and goalie Allie Kelley.

The way they won it too, off a team effort on both ends of the ice, is inspiring for this Terrier squad hoping to find its footing in head coach Tara Watchorn’s first year. 

“Every single person was involved in the offense, involved in our success,” Watchorn said following the win on Saturday. 

Photo by Cristina Romano.

Saturday’s Syracuse rout came off a stretch of games where the Terriers had all the pieces but couldn’t put them together for a W in the record book. 

The matchup will be a homecoming for the twin pair of forwards Luisa and Lilli Welcke who transferred to BU from UMaine this offseason. Luisa scored one of the team’s six goals in Saturday’s 6-1 win off an assist from her sister Lilli. It was the first goal and point, respectively, for the new Terriers. 

Look out this weekend for sophomore forward Sydney Healey to expand off her two-goal performance in the second game of the Syracuse series. Healey found her stride offensively after being moved onto the top-line for her two-goal performance. 

It will also be interesting to see if Watchorn continues to rotate her goalies after freshman Mari Pietersen shined in the second game of the series. Pietersen has played in three of BU’s games but was replaced by graduate transfer Alexa Matses in the second game of the Northeastern series early in the season. 

Five things to know about Maine before this weekend

  • The Black Bears have had a mixed start to the season after the team was swept by No. 8 Quinnipiac in their meeting early in the season but have gone 2-2-0 since then.
  • Last year’s Maine team went 15-18-2, with a 12-13-2 conference record. The Black Bears were knocked off in the first round of the HE playoffs, suffering a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Providence Friars. 
  • The Terriers went 2-0-1 against the Black Bears last year and are 22-24-2 in the all time series against Maine. 
  • Junior forward Alyssa Wruble, who was the Black Bears’ leading goal scorer last year, tallying 12 goals in 34 games played, has had a slower start to the season this year with only one goal scored so far. 
  • Fifth-year forward Ida Kuoppala is the leading scorer this year with seven goals. 

Puck drop for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 5pm, and the Boston Hockey Blog will have full coverage of the game, so be sure to follow along on Twitter (X) @BOShockeyblog and Instagram @boston.hockey.blog.

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