The Boston University women’s hockey team hadn’t beaten Northeastern University since the beginning of the 2021-22.
The Terriers (2-3-0, 1-2-0 Hockey East) broke the 12-game winless streak, including a heartbreaker in last season’s Beanpot Final, with a 4-0 shutout of the No. 12 Huskies (3-3-0, 1-1-0 HEA) at Agganis Arena Saturday afternoon.
After being left essentially on an island on her own last night before being replaced, senior goaltender Callie Shanahan retook the net for her second straight start and completed the first BU shutout of Northeastern in 14 years. The defense performed a lot better in front of her than last night, and she ended the game with 25 saves after an onslaught towards the end of the third period.
“Awesome rebound for Callie,” head coach Tara Watchorn said. “Obviously, she’s been playing great for us. I know yesterday wasn’t the night she wanted, so it just speaks to her ability to reset at the well and give us the chance to win.”
The win was a bounce-back after a sloppy loss to the Huskies the night before, losing to the same score with which they won this game. The Terriers struggled to control the puck, giving up turnovers that led to multiple goals off breakaways.
The players’ leadership group, as well as the seniors, was able to step up and take control of the locker room after that performance to turn the ship around.
“Our team, the players, took ownership over the environment they wanted and were leaders from up and down the lineup, and I think you saw that on the ice,” Watchorn said.
The BU defense was able to maintain better control of the puck, and the team was aggressive in the neutral zone while winning battles along the boards to force turnovers. The offense was able to build off of those chances.
Freshman forward Lola Reid was the first to get on the board four and a half minutes into the first period. Reid faked a pass to sophomore forward Alex Law, who was open on the other side of the net, then took the shot herself, beating Huskies freshman goaltender Lisa Jönsson to the top shelf.
The Terriers looked to keep the momentum rolling with a power play about seven minutes in, but they weren’t able to cash in with only one shot on goal.
Junior forward Sydney Healey got another good look on her own in a 4-on-1 rush where she took the puck herself from her own zone and managed to get a shot off before the Huskies closed in on her.
The Terriers had a chance to add on toward the end of the first period as Law got the puck to Healey from behind the net. Healey’s shot bounced off Jönsson, and Reid collected the rebound, only for Jönsson to make the save again.
Healey got another good look at the net early into the second period, but she missed wide.
Freshman defenseman Keira Healey was able to shut down one of Northeastern’s better chances in the first with a one-on-one backcheck, where she was able to break up the play before there was a real threat.
Law drew a hooking penalty off of Northeastern’s senior defenseman Tory Mariano in the seventh minute of the second period. A few seconds in, though, senior forward Christina Vote blocked Northeastern’s attempt to clear and went down immediately, reaching for her knee. She was helped off the ice, barely putting any weight on her left leg as she guided into the locker room with trainers on either side of her.
BU wasn’t able to cash in on the man advantage after Vote’s departure. Junior forward Luisa Welcke missed a wide-open look at the net that would’ve added insurance.
The Terriers were back on the power play after a body-checking call on graduate defenseman Lily Yovetich winded Law. Law was able to get herself off the ice, doubled over, and continued to play, but the Terriers were once again unable to capitalize.
The period ended about 40 seconds into a Northeastern power play after junior defenseman Maeve Kelly was called for interference, but the Terriers were able to kill it off at the beginning of the third.
Vote returned to the ice to start the third, too.
After Northeastern’s junior forward Lily Shannon was called for slashing, Vote got an opportunity to build on the Terrier lead as she outskated three defenders and tried to work around them and tuck the puck into the net just past the end of Jönsson’s right pad, but Vote missed and hit the outside of the post instead.
Just over seven minutes into the third period, Sydney Healey and junior forward Riley Walsh broke through the neutral zone and rushed the net in a two-on-one. Healey took the puck into the offensive zone before passing across to Walsh, who fired the puck into the top of the net to double the Terrier lead.
Northeastern drew back-to-back penalties halfway through the period to create a threat in the offensive zone, but BU managed to clog up the middle of the ice and force the Huskies to pass around the outside, limiting the quality looks at the net. Shanahan handled the seven shots that reached her.
“It’s really helpful being in year two, as the returners really have our foundation and mentality built, and the newcomers are really jumping on,” Watchorn said. “We really just finished our rollout for all of our stages for our PK, so I think you’re seeing a little bit of that and a little bit of strategy against what the other team’s throwing at us.”
With just over two minutes left to play, the Huskies pulled their goalie, and only seven seconds later, Sydney Healey cashed in on the vacancy. Exactly one minute later, junior forward Clara Yuhn followed up with her own empty netter.
Northeastern finished the game with an aggressive push in its offensive zone, but Shanahan and the defense in front of her were able to shut it down to complete the shutout.
BU will look to continue this success with a two-game set against the University of Maine at Agganis on Oct. 18 and 19.
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