Tara Watchorn had what she called a “really fun” watch the week before Thanksgiving this year.
It was the film from the Boston University women’s hockey team’s dominant 3-1 win over No. 11 Boston College.
When a dream start to the season met its most significant test yet two weekends ago, BU kept on keeping on, taking four of a possible six points in a series with the arch-rival Eagles. It’s still early, but BU, with its four-point lead in Hockey East after 11 games, has a serious chance to win its first conference title in a decade.
“We were just dominant,” Watchorn, BU’s head coach, said Monday on her midweek call. “So cool to see.”
Seeing as the Terriers next take the ice on the eve of Thanksgiving in a 2 p.m. matchup Wednesday with Princeton at Agganis Arena, here are some things BU should be thankful for as they continue one of their best starts to a season in program history.
It is, uh, a long list.
Goaltender Callie Shanahan.
BU’s actually already taken care of this one. After its home win over Providence on November 1, a voice in the postgame locker room yelled: “Everyone says ‘Thanks, Callie!’”
“Thanks, Caaaaaallie,” the team responded.
At that point, the senior netminder had allowed just five goals in her previous six starts, and after another win the next day over the Friars, she boasted a .956 save percentage that easily led Hockey East and was fourth-best in the country.
She’s slowed down since — allowing three goals on eight shots in a tie with Merrimack on Nov. 8 followed by two errors in a 3-2 series-opening loss to BC on Nov. 15 brought her save percentage down to .936. It’s third in the conference and 11th in the nation.
Still, Watchorn has been asked on multiple occasions what’s behind this flying start, and she’s started her answer with goaltending each time.
And Shanahan rebounded last time out — in BU’s 3-1 win over BC on November 16.
But in large part due to…
The defensive core.
Before the Terriers’ series with BC, Watchorn was asked if there were any significant contributors she felt had flown under the radar.
“Our entire D-core, probably,” she said.
Graduate captain Tamara Giaquinto has not gone unnoticed — she won Hockey East’s October Defender of the Month, in part due to her three power-play goals and three assists. Senior assistant captain Maggie Hanzel has been a steady force all year and scored a ridiculous shootout goal in that tie with Merrimack to help clinch the extra conference point. Graduate assistant captain Julia Shaunessy turned the puck over too much early, but has since come up huge for the Terriers in the offensive zone, and her size and reach with her stick has been a nuisance for opponents all over the ice. Freshman Keira Healey has barely put a foot wrong.
But junior Maeve Kelly might be the most impressive of the bunch. She basically never makes a mistake, despite consistently taking the puck in precarious situations. Like any good defender, she puts out fires — but she also prevents them from happening, and her reliability in the defensive zone has been critical all season.
“She might model our standards more than anyone else I have ever seen,” Watchorn said before the Providence series. “Wow.”
All told, BU’s defenders have been lights out this year. And when Shanahan needed them most, in that win over BC at Conte Forum, they allowed just nine shots to reach her net.
Saturdays.
BU is 5-1 on Saturdays this season, all of them series finales. The one loss was at No. 2 Minnesota way back on October 6.
Watchorn has expressed displeasure after the Friday opener more often than not this season, yet without fail, BU has rebounded the day after. That includes cathartic wins over the Terriers’ two biggest rivals — versus Northeastern in early October, which started a nine-game unbeaten streak, and against BC, BU’s biggest statement victory in years.
Watchorn and all of her players speak tirelessly of “controlling their environment.” They are vague about what that truly means, but that BU is so consistently good on Saturdays speaks volumes to whatever said environment entails. The Terriers have yet to crumble after a disappointing Friday; if anything, in the time between the opener and the Saturday finale — which is usually less than 24 hours — BU has found a different gear.
“We take a little few minutes to reflect on it,” graduate forward Lindsay Bochna said of the team’s mindset after the opening loss to BC, “and then we know we want to move forward with it.”
Christina Vote and Alex Law.
They’re the only two everyday forwards yet to score a goal for BU this season. (That in and of itself illustrates the Terriers’ offensive depth, another thing they should be thankful for.)
But Vote, a senior, and Law, a sophomore, are unique; they aren’t really supposed to score goals — Vote especially, who looks unwilling to shoot most of the time — instead, they’re on the ice to advance the puck and create chances for others.
Vote’s a wonderful technical player, slippery with the puck at her stick and adept at stressing a defense before dumping off a pass to an open teammate. She’s second on the team in points off assists alone.
“She makes people around her better,” Watchorn said before the BC series.
Law is less refined, but her speed is menacing, and she consistently transitions BU from the defensive to offensive zone by herself. She completes multiple coast-to-cast carries a game and wins races to loose pucks almost without fail, even if she starts multiple steps behind an opponent.
“One of the fastest skaters in the league,” Watchorn said Monday. “If not the.”
BU’s enjoyed a significant ice tilt in most of its games this year, and Law is a big reason why.
“When she’s dialed, competing, skating, being herself, she elevates our team every time,” Watchorn said.
Scouting the Tigers
The 5-5 Tigers (3-5-1 ECAC) are no joke. They received two votes in the latest USCHO.com poll and their 4.3 goals per game are second in the entire nation. Princeton enters the winner of three of its last four — including an overtime win over No. 5 Colgate and a narrow loss to No. 8 Cornell.
“Good hockey team,” Watchorn said without hesitation on Monday.
Junior Issy Wunder (eight goals, nine assists) and star freshman Mackenzie Alexander (six goals, 10 assists) lead the Tigers’ attack, which also boasts the country’s second-best power play unit (38.7 percent). But Princeton is an all-gas-no-brakes team, one that scores goals with ease but concedes them, too. Its 3.4 goals allowed per game are tied for sixth-worst in the nation. BU, by contrast, is ninth-best (1.7).
Put mildly, this is a clash of two differing styles. The unstoppable force versus the unmovable object, if you will.
“I’m really excited for this matchup,” Watchorn said. “It’s going to test our defense, test our D-zone, test our PK. So I think big-picture wise, I’m excited to be tested.”
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