The Boston University women’s hockey team seems to be at a crossroad once again.
After sweeping the University of Vermont – and scoring a cumulative 10 goals in the series – and then putting up a gritty fight in the Beanpot Championship against Northeastern, the Terriers (11-13-3, 9-10-1 Hockey East) were swept by a cellar-dwelling Holy Cross team last weekend.
BU has shown its ability to play up to conference competition and put together a cohesive 60-minute performance, but it comes in spurts. The Terriers have the opportunity to find some consistency in this weekend’s home-and-home series against the No. 15 Boston College Eagles.
This iteration of the Battle of Comm Ave. will mark the third and fourth meetings between the teams – the two last faced off on Jan. 16 when BU beat BC in a shootout to advance to the Beanpot title game.
The Terriers lost both games against Holy Cross by one goal – falling 2-1 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. Junior forward Ani FitzGerald, sophomore forward Clara Yuhn and freshman forward Alex Law were the lone BU goal scorers across the two contests.
Both freshman Mari Pietersen and junior Callie Shanahan got a start in net. Pietersen made 20 saves in Friday’s loss, and Shanahan made 29 saves Saturday. It seems head coach Tara Watchorn is continuing to monitor Shanahan’s load management after the goaltender came back from a knee injury to start second semester.
In her five games back, Shanahan has posted a 2.61 goals against average and .894 save percentage. Shanahan was an important piece of the Terriers’ last victory over the Eagles and could likely get the nod for one, if not both, of the matchups this weekend.
BU has relied on a few select players for its offensive production as of late, and will need more depth contributions down the stretch. Senior forward Lacey Martin leads the team with 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists), while Yuhn has 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) and senior forward Catherine Foulem has 17 points (10 goals, seven assists).
Another point of emphasis will be producing on the power play – an area the Terriers have struggled this season. Their power play percentage sits at .180 (16-for-89). However, BU’s .904 penalty kill percentage is ranked fourth in the nation and has been one of the group’s biggest assets.
Playing – and beating – the rival Eagles is always a point of pride, and this series comes at a time where the Terriers desperately need to get some confidence back.
Five things to know about Boston College:
- The Eagles (13-8-6, 12-4-4 HE) faced Providence College last weekend, securing the extra point in a shootout on Friday and losing 3-1 on Saturday.
- Freshman forward Sammy Taber leads BC in points with 28 (10 goals, 18 assists). Taber has been skating on the first line with graduate Sammy Smigliani and senior Caroline Goffredo.
- Sophomore Grace Campbell has been the Eagles’ go-to starter this season. The goaltender has posted a 2.40 GAA and .923 save percentage through 27 games.
- Boston College has the ninth-best power play percentage in the nation at .242 (16-for-66). Senior forward Gaby Roy and sophomore forward Jade Arnone are tied for a team-leading three power-play goals.
- The Eagles have been averaging 2.9 goals per game. Comparatively, the Terriers have averaged 2.7 goals per game.
Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Walter Brown Arena and 2 p.m. Saturday at Conte Forum. The Boston Hockey Blog will have full, on-the-ground coverage of both games so be sure to follow along on Twitter (X) @BOShockeyblog and Instagram @boston.hockey.blog.
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