The Boston University women’s ice hockey team got back into the win column with a pair of away victories this weekend. The Terriers beat the University of Vermont 4-1 on Friday and then traveled to Merrimack College on Saturday, winning 4-0 in North Andover.
“Really happy with our group. Our goal was to get two gutsy road wins this weekend, and they did just that,” head coach Tara Watchorn said following the 4-0 win over Merrimack on Saturday. “What I loved is that both games looked a little different, but we found a way to win.”
On Friday, the Catamounts scored the first goal midway through the first period, but the Terriers responded a minute later as junior forward Ani FitzGerald’s puck deflected off a defender and into the net.
“We’ve been in a lot of those situations where you have to fight back and the other team scores first, and I’m hopeful we keep bringing all of those experiences with us,” Watchorn said following the UVM matchup.
BU scored two in the second period, with one coming in the first 30 seconds of the frame. Senior forward Lacey Martin sent a wrister past senior goaltender Jessie McPherson’s shoulder to give the Terriers the 2-1 lead.
Senior forward Catherine Foulem, who assisted on the Martin goal, batted in the puck to extend the Terrier lead to two.
Freshman forward Jackson Kinsler scored her first career goal to cap off the Terriers’ win in the third, off FitzGerald’s skate pass.
“I thought it was probably the most physical game we’ve played all year, I was really impressed by their compete,” Watchorn said.
Junior goaltender Callie Shanahan posted her second shutout in four games on Saturday to blank Merrimack, and senior defender Tamara Giaquinto and sophomore forward Clara Yuhn scored two goals apiece for the 4-0 win.
Yuhn fired one off from the right circle to open the scoring up midway through the second period after a scoreless 30 minutes.
After drawing a hooking penalty with seconds left in the second, Giaquinto one-timed the puck from the top of the zone to extend the BU lead to two.
“We actually called the play before we started. We wanted to win it back, and then get over, get a quick shot going, because we only had seven seconds, so it was nice that we executed that and finished the period with a goal there,” Giaquinto said postgame.
Tamara draws a Merrimack penalty then immediately finds the back of the net with this laser!
Watch on ESPN+: https://t.co/5Ct1JhKUx9@espn | @hockey_east#GoBU pic.twitter.com/2YoOz4A2W8
— BU Women's Hockey (@TerrierWHockey) February 17, 2024
Yuhn and Giaquinto scored the next two goals, Giaquinto again on the powerplay to seal the deal for the Terriers.
“Our message going into the weekend was we gotta start treating every game like the playoffs,” Watchorn said postgame. “We’re going to set ourselves up and put ourselves in the situation to have success.”
With one more weekend series left in the season, the Terriers are in the middle of the pack at the sixth seed in Hockey East standings, with an even 12 wins, 12 losses and one tie. They’ll face UConn for the regular season finale, who they lost 5-2 to in the team’s first matchup of the season in January.
Despite a relatively unimportant six points — BU can only gain or lose one spot in the conference standings from their sixth seed spot currently — two wins is much needed for the Terriers. Stringing along four wins to mark the end of the regular season would provide some important momentum and much needed consistency headed into the playoffs.
Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at Walter Brown Arena for the first contest between BU and UConn, with the puck drop scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Boston Hockey Blog will have full coverage of both matchups so be sure to follow along on Twitter (X) @BOShockeyblog and Instagram @boston.hockey.blog.
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