Down a goal in the final minutes of Tuesday’s opening round game of the Hockey East tournament, the Terriers put up their strongest sequence of the night.
A flurry of shots rained down on Holy Cross senior goaltender Madison Beck in a three-minute sequence as BU desperately tried to tie the win-or-go-home contest.
Amid their extended time in the offensive zone, the Crusaders poked away the puck and tried for a breakaway towards BU’s net. Junior Terrier forward Christina Vote tracked it down first, but BU got tangled up trying to get back down ice, and senior Holy Cross forward Millie Sirum came away with the puck.
Sirum skated a couple feet towards Callie Shanahan’s net before firing in the goal that closed the book on the season for the Terriers.
When asked what she felt following the 4-2 loss, an emotional Madison Cardaci simply said, “defeat.”
“I’ve come such a long way, we’ve all come such a long way. For the seniors, you think about when you started at four years old, into where you are now, it’s crazy to think that some of us, it could be over.”
BU outshot its opponent 38-15 Tuesday, but couldn’t convert its many offensive opportunities into scoring amid a tight, physical Holy Cross defense.
“Just one of those 1-in-100 games that the bounces don’t go your way, this group deserved a lot better. I thought they stuck to our game plan, they played really well, it just didn’t go our way,” BU head coach Tara Watchorn said postgame.
The Terriers immediately found themselves in a hole when, 29 seconds into the game, sophomore Crusader forward Lane Lewis tipped in a shot by junior defender Carmen Elliot.
Elliot got the puck from sophomore forward Alexia Moreau after Holy Cross won the game’s second faceoff and shot it from beyond the right circle, Lewis’ tip-in then gave the Crusaders a 1-0 lead.
BU tied up the game on the power play after an interference call against Holy Cross with a goal from senior defender Tamara Giaquinto. Sophomore forward Lilli Welcke hit Giaquinto with a cross-ice pass from the left circle.
With sophomore forward Luisa Welcke also getting an assist on the play, it was the 11th point for each the twins in their first BU season.
Julia Shaunessy got the Terriers up 2-1 on a wrist-shot from distance — her first goal of the season. Tuesday’s playoff game was the 16th game that the senior defenseman has played in for BU this year.
Holy Cross got some more scoring in before the first intermission, tying the game up with 30 seconds left in the first on a goal from Moreau. Near the halfway point of the second period, the Crusaders grabbed a 3-2 lead with another goal from Moreau.
At 10:46 in the second period, Sydney Healey went down after a hit by Madison Michals near the corner boards. Healey stayed down on the ice for a moment while being attended to be BU’s medical staff before she was helped off by two teammates.
Despite a review for a major penalty, Michals went to the box for two for a body-checking penalty, the hit by Michals fell in line with an aggressive night for the Crusaders.
“They were gonna play desperate, they had nothing to lose, we knew that coming in, and, I mean, they played dirty, so I don’t know if we were completely ready for that,” Cardaci said.
Holy Cross had eight penalty minutes in Tuesday’s game compared to four for the Terriers.
“I think it was a little bit of like desperation physicality, I feel like we’d build some momentum and then you’re tired and those hits happen,” Watchorn said.
The team stuck to a more conservative approach in their response to the Crusaders’ physicality, rarely taking the bait for a post-whistle scrum.
“We were hard to play against in every way, we don’t need the big hit, we get pins, we play physical we compete, we don’t need to make contact in that way,” Watchorn said.
BU couldn’t score on the ensuing 5-on-4 advantage, going 1-4 on the power play for the night. The failure to score off the power plays given to them by Holy Cross’ ‘dirty’ play was a big piece of what did the Terriers in Tuesday night.
After the final buzzer rang, many of the Terriers lingered on the ice, with some getting one last skate in before leaving the rink at Walter Brown for the final time.
“I don’t think I can put into words, or the right words of how much it meant to me to be a part of this team, be a part of the school, be part of this program,” Cardaci said.
While the Terriers finished the first year of Tara Watchorn’s tenure as head coach with a 14-18-3 record and a loss in the opening round of their conference’s playoff, the team feels they’ve laid the groundwork for a new culture of winning at BU.
“We’re trying to build for the next few years to come and this group will a national championship group, I’ll say it now, in the next five years,” Cardaci said.
“All of our names in this team now is the foundation and what Watchorn has brought to us is just incredible.”
they have a lot of work to do. i have watched 3 games (one live) and they are too slow and not very physical
i am rooting for them and Coach W