The old saying goes: It’s hard to beat a team three times.
The Boston University women’s hockey team started their season with a dominant 7-1 victory over Merrimack. The team kept it up last night with a 5-1 win on the road. Friday afternoon marked game three.
The No. 15 Terriers (9-3-1, 7-1-1 Hockey East) faced their biggest challenge from the Warriors (4-5-1, 2-4-1 HEA) with a 3-3 tie at Agganis Arena. BU left with the shootout victory — thanks to Maggie Hanzel’s ridiculous fake shot goal — and an extra point in conference play.
Despite outshooting the Warriors 41-8, head coach Tara Watchorn accepts these types of games might happen and that the team walks out with “a lot of good.”
“You know you’re going to run into these games where a hot goalie or it’s just not going for you. That’s hockey, right?” Watchorn asked. “The composure and how you handle that, being able to try different things, getting some overtime experience, getting those looks — that’s what we’re excited about.”
The Terriers took a methodical approach early in the contest. It wasn’t a slow start, but the team looked in control. Few opportunities came by way of either team with the puck living in the neutral zone through the first half of the period.
The Terriers cashed in their first goal with a stroke of luck at 13:52. Forward Christina Vote lofted a soft pass toward Merrimack goaltender Callie Hogarth, who prepared for a run-of-the-mill save. However, forward Lindsay Bochna’s stick shot up in the air, brushing the puck enough to give it a short hop past Hogarth and take a 1-0 lead for BU.
In between periods, Bochna said she had been working on tips in practice but never experienced one like that.
Vote’s assist marked her sixth straight game with an assist, bringing the total to 10 across that span. She has already passed her point total from last season in 22 fewer games.
“She’s just open to trying new things, practicing new things. Obviously, she’s just so talented and confident to hold on to the puck, play with her teammates, and she’s buying in,” Watchorn said. “It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
Just over 30 seconds passed before forward Lilli Welcke took a tripping penalty. The Warriors couldn’t seize the advantage, taking a too-many-men penalty at 15:26.
Luisa Welcke then took matters into her own hands. The junior forward forced a turnover in transition, gliding to the right circle and effortlessly ringing the puck off the left post at 15:44. Luisa’s third goal in three games gave the Terriers a 2-0 edge.
Merrimack cut off the momentum before the Terriers could get to the locker room. Forward Abby Poitras rifled a shot a stride above the blue line, which fell at the stick of forward Chloe Goofers. The freshman standout worked a quick redirection past goaltender Callie Shanahan on the team’s first shot of the night at 18:22.
The start of the second period matched the lull of the first. An early penalty assessed to BU’s Riley Walsh led to a couple of high-leverage chances for the Warriors, but the visitors came up fruitless.
Merrimack scored their long-awaited equalizer near the end of the period when extra defenseman Maggie Kime took a shot from the point. The puck bounced off Shanahan’s chest pad, settling on the stick of Goofers, who spun and backhanded the goal into an empty net at 17:46.
By the end of the period, BU led Merrimack in shots 25-4, but the score held at two apiece.
The Warriors seemed poised to take the lead early in the third when top-line forward Maria Lindberg rang a shot off the post 45 seconds into the frame.
BU’s Neely Nicholson had other ideas. Nicholson, who moved to the third line today, skated with ease to the middle of the offensive third. She then sent a rocket to the top right corner that Hogarth couldn’t react to. The goal moved the Terriers ahead 3-2 at 6:23 of the third.
But the Warriors kept responding. Lindberg possessed the puck at the blue line, moving toward Shanahan unblocked. The sophomore forward snuck it through the five-hole to once again knot the game at 7:28.
Shanahan has been, without a doubt, one of the strongest netminders in the country this season. The three goals allowed on eight shots were indicative of an off day.
“She’s played a lot of hockey for us. You know, we’ve really pushed our group this week,” Watchorn said. “She’s been great for us, and I can only imagine it’s tough [to face so few shots].”
The Terriers had one last barrage in the waning seconds of regulation, where BU recorded nine shots in the final minute. In the fray, Merrimack’s Hayley Chang took an interference penalty at the end of the third that would carry into overtime.
BU squandered the 4-on-3 advantage with a hesitation to shoot, leading to zero shots on goal. Bochna took on a zone entry by herself, recording a pair of shots but left with nothing to show.
“You don’t practice 4-v-3 every day,” Watchorn said. “I thought they did a great job.”
While Merrimack didn’t record a shot in overtime, neither team walked away as the clear winner.
Maggie Hanzel scored a Kucherov-esque goal, and Sydney Healey followed it up to give BU the extra point in Hockey East.
The Terriers look to continue their unbeaten streak in the high-profile Comm. Ave. Rivalry next weekend.
“BC is definitely a weekend that everyone gets very excited for. I know we’ve been talking about it since probably the beginning of the season,” graduate student defender Julia Shaunessy said. “A little nerves come with that, but I think we play great under pressure, and I think we play great a little bit nervous.”
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