With less than five minutes remaining in the third period, the Terriers led Holy Cross 2-1 and convincingly closed out a tightly contested matchup at Walter Brown Arena Friday night.
After giving up late, tying goals in its last two games, the Boston University women’s hockey team (7-8-2, 5-6-1 Hockey East) shut it down against the Holy Cross Crusaders (5-11-2, 2-8-2 HE), securing its first conference win since Nov. 11 and snapping its three-game losing streak.
“Big win for our group,” BU assistant coach Megan Myers said postgame. “It’s a good one for our morale. Good one for our group to kind of see that we can pull off tight games like this one.”
Freshman goaltender Mari Pietersen got the start for BU for the first time since the Nov. 14 loss against Harvard University in which she got pulled in the opening frame. Pietersen replaced graduate netminder Alexa Matses against Minnesota State on Nov. 26, but Friday marked her first full game in nearly a month.
Pietersen made 21 saves and had strong puck control and composure throughout the night.
“It felt great to be back out there. Just love playing for my team, love playing with these guys,” Pietersen said postgame. “It’s another mental component of the game and it’s part of the role. You’ve just got to work on that mental side of the game and when your name is called, do the best you can.”
Junior forward Ani Fitzgerald netted her first as a Terrier at 3:14 of the first period and gave BU a 1-0 lead on the play. Sophomore winger Sydney Healey won a puck battle against the boards and pushed the rubber up to Fitzgerald at the point who ripped it past Crusader goaltender Brooke Loranger from the right side.
— Boston Hockey Blog (@BOShockeyblog) December 8, 2023
“It was pretty awesome, I’m not gonna lie. I feel like I got a hug from everyone on the team. We are just so supportive of each other, and I’m really glad that it was here on home ice,” Fitzgerald said postgame.
BU killed off two penalties in the first period – freshman forward Alex Law and sophomore forward Lilli Welcke were called for separate minors – and did a good job ending Crusader chances at the top of the defensive zone. Forcing odd-man rushes, the Terriers’ PK often looked more like a power play than Holy Cross’ actual 5-on-4 advantage.
The Terriers led 18-7 in shots on goal after the first and continued getting pucks on net in the second period, but nothing dropped. BU added 14 more SOG in a middle frame where it held most of the momentum, but the Crusaders remained disciplined and committed to their defensive game and headed into the final stanza trailing one.
Junior forward Madison Michals delivered the equalizer for Holy Cross at 10:42 of the third period, knocking in a net-front rebound off freshman forward Lulu Rourke’s stuff-attempt from behind the left pipe.
“I think after they scored that goal on us, we didn’t let our foot off the gas and we just kept going,” Fitzgerald said.
BU regained the lead at 15:13 thanks to a power play goal from sophomore forward Luisa Welcke – her first tally since Oct. 21. Welcke wristed home a loose puck in the slot for the final 2-1 score, assisted by senior defensemen Tamara Giaquinto and Andi Calderone.
The Terriers will close out their first-semester play Saturday afternoon at Walter Brown Arena against Providence College in the groups’ third meeting of the year. As the half-way point of the season approaches, BU is feeling more confident in its team identity.
“I think they’re really coming together as a group and they’re really understanding that it’s a mindset,” Myers said. “It’s not that we’re bad hockey players, it’s not that we’re a bad team – it’s a mindset that we just have to all come together with.”
Saturday’s puck drop is set for 3 p.m. against the Friars. The Boston Hockey Blog will have full, on-the-ground coverage, so be sure to follow along on Twitter (X) @BOShockeyblog and Instagram @boston.hockey.blog.
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