BOSTON — In the first game of a critical weekend against Providence, the Boston University women’s hockey team defeated the Friars, 5-1, on Friday afternoon at Agganis Arena to improve to 7-3-0, continuing its best start to a season in a decade with a sixth consecutive win.
Here are three takeaways from the victory:
Providence made a few early mistakes, and the Terriers took advantage
The Friars, picked to finish a spot ahead of the Terriers in the middle of the Hockey East preseason poll, made multiple critical errors in the first period. Providence cracked the door open, and BU proceeded to kick it down.
In the final half-minute of a BU penalty kill early in the first period, PC senior goalie Hope Walinski misjudged a clearance, electing to stay in her crease instead of retrieving the loose puck in her own zone. BU forward Alex Law caught up to it from the other end of the ice and squared it perfectly for fellow sophomore Neely Nicholson, who easily buried the short-handed opening goal at 3:27.
Around five minutes later, star freshman Lola Reid was the first to a loose puck behind Walinski’s goal, and her back-handed, no-look pass perfectly met the stride of senior Ani Fitzgerald in the left circle. Fitzgerald’s slapshot was saved by Walinski, but the ensuing rebound fell right to junior Riley Walsh for an open-goal tap-in.
The Terriers (7-3-0, 5-1-0 Hockey East) didn’t dominate against a legitimate opponent. PC outshot BU, 34-29, and both teams made their fair share of errors in the defensive zone. When the Terriers’ made theirs, senior goaltender Callie Shanahan (33 saves, .960 save percentage entering the game) bailed them out.
But when the Friars (5-4-0, 2-3-0 HE) took a wrong step, BU — the surprise conference-leader after 10 games — made it pay.
Head coach Tara Watchorn was notably displeased at her team’s overall performance in postgame availability, but the Terriers still won — and were never in much danger of losing.
And to find a way despite playing below standard? That’s what good teams do.
“It’s huge,” sophomore Clara Yuhn said of her team’s resourcefulness. “I think that’s what we lacked a lot last year. We’re having success this year because we’re able to bear down in the moments we need to.”
The mercurial Alex Law finally broke through (sort of)
There isn’t a player in Scarlet and White more exciting to watch than Law — and that includes conference player of the month Reid. The sophomore is the fastest skater on almost every sheet of ice she steps on and is easily BU’s most confident and capable puck carrier.
She’s been all flash, no substance so far this season, dazzling with her ability to transition BU into the offensive zone all by herself, only for the final product to elude her.
Law recorded her second point of the season on the assist for Nicholson’s opener. Her speed in pursuit of the penalty-kill clearance clearly caught Walinski off guard.
“With her speed,” Watchorn said, “she can create transition, she can be first on loose pucks and she’s able to skate 200 feet.”
Playing on the fourth line with Nicholson and freshman Kaileigh Quigg, Law did what she normally does, making plays the opponent doesn’t know how to deal with. Only this time, it led directly to a BU goal.
She’s yet to score herself this season. But one of the Terries’ most progressive forwards is starting to see the fruits of her labor.
Clara Yuhn is starting to get back on track
The junior forward entered the season as BU’s leading point-scoring returner, but she scored just one non-empty net goal over the first seven games and was dropped to the fourth line two weekends ago against Maine.
Last weekend, Watchorn moved her back to the second line, and she responded with a top-shelf slapshot goal in the first game at Syracuse. She remained there on Friday, joined by senior Christina Vote and junior Sydney Healey.
Interlocked with a Providence defender in the slot during the second period, graduate Julia Shauhnessy sent in a wrister from the point. Yuhn got her stick to the puck, and the deflection left Walinski hopeless at 13:42.
“I know that Julia is probably going to shoot it from the blue line,” Yuhn said. “So just battling in front of the net, stuff we work in practice all the time.”
It was a true goal scorer’s goal for a player BU needs them from.
After the puck hit the back of the net, she turned to Shauhnessy, raised both arms and let out an enormous roar.
Yuhn’s not had the start anyone expected, but the goals are starting to come.
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