BOSTON — Sydney Healey couldn’t wipe the expression from her face — a combination of shock, relief and jubilation, all mixed into one huge smile.
The junior forward had just scored the most consequential goal of her career with the Boston University women’s hockey team: a snipe with 55 seconds remaining in the Beanpot semifinal against Harvard to tie the game, 1-1, and force overtime.
It was the moment that had eluded the Terriers all game. BU outplayed and outshot Harvard, but could not find the back of the net against the Crimson’s stout defense and netminder Ainsley Tuffy (39 saves).
But once the Terriers broke through and sent the game to overtime, Healey knew an overtime winner was coming next.
“No worries there,” Healey said postgame. “I knew we were winning as soon as we got that goal.”
She was right. Grad student forward Lindsay Bochna scored the winner at 3:43 of overtime, and the Terriers skated away with a dramatic 2-1 win at Matthews Arena and a spot in next Tuesday’s Beanpot Final against Northeastern at TD Garden.
For most of the third period, BU looked down and out against the lowly Crimson (2-13-2), who were dictating the pace of play to the No. 13 Terriers (14-6-1).
After hanging tough with BU for the first two periods, the Crimson took a 1-0 edge at 1:43 of the third after sophomore forward Angelica Megdanis sniped the puck past BU senior goalie Callie Shanahan.
In a game with such little offense, one goal felt like firm control for Harvard, which made things difficult for BU’s offense all game long.
“They didn’t give you the middle,” said BU head coach Tara Watchorn. “Whether it started with their forecheck that had layers and layers in that 1-2-2, and then you get into their zone with speed and you start working it around, they pack the middle.”
BU strung together dominant shifts from the outset, and all four lines generated long stretches of offensive zone time and shots on net. But Harvard’s bend-don’t-break game plan paid off, and limited the Terriers to just a few Grade-A chances.
After Medganis’ goal, Harvard only gained confidence and poise. The Crimson possessed the puck more, and nearly made it 2-0 if not for senior goalie Callie Shanahan’s breakaway save on Harvard freshman Ella Lucia.
Eventually, BU kicked it into desperation gear and began to dominate play once again, although Tuffy continued to make every save and Harvard’s defense kept the Terriers out of the middle of the ice.
Watchorn pulled Shanahan for an extra skater with over 3:30 to go and called a timeout with 1:03 remaining, her team still looking for an offensive spark.
It was then that assistant coach Megan Myers drew up the play that led to Healey’s goal, which came just eight seconds later.
The idea, Watchorn said, was to force Harvard’s defensive coverage to the blue line, which would then open up an opportunity down low.
Off a faceoff win, Maggie Hanzel slid the puck across the blue line to defender Julia Shaunessy, which led Harvard to pinch up to the top of the zone. That left Healey wide open at the right bumper.
Shaunessy threaded the needle through traffic to find Healey, who made no mistake and sniped the puck into the roof of the net.
“It was about time,” said Watchorn. “It was so fun to watch the whole group generate offense all night, and you believed and hoped it was coming.”
Healey took that sentiment a step further: “I had no doubt, no matter what. Our team was relentless the entire game, so I had no doubt they were going to score that goal, no matter who it was.”
With all the momentum on its side, BU dominated the overtime period, and nearly scored when Shaunessy blasted one off the post at 2:03.
Then, Bochna took matters into her own hands. She squeezed past a defender and accelerated into the offensive zone before releasing her top-shelf snipe to seal it.
“I just kind of wheeled wide and then and saw right about here open, and managed to put it in there,” Bochna said.
Next up: a rematch at TD Garden with Northeastern, which defeated Boston College, 4-2, in front of a record crowd of 3,298 in the late game at Matthews Arena.
“The hype from the beginning of the year, it’s all, ‘Oh, the Beanpot, we gotta win the Beanpot, we gotta do the Beanpot,’” said Bochna, who transferred in from Providence before this season. “I’m so excited to be there next week with my whole team, and hopefully win a Beanpot.”
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