It was a rocky start, but ultimately, it didn’t take long for the Boston University women’s hockey team to find itself on Friday night.
BU conceded less than six minutes into an enormous matchup with arch-rival Boston College, quickly responded, and seized control thereafter, taking three critical Hockey East points from the No. 12 Eagles at Walter Brown Arena.
Riley Walsh poked home the game-winning goal 11 minutes into the third period, after BC goalie Grace Campbell mishandled what would’ve been an excellent save. The junior forward flapped her arms up and down — surely in an effort to troll the Eagles — after scoring her seventh of the season to secure the 3-2 win.
BU outshot the Eagles, 34-26. A foundational strength for the Terriers during this resurgent season has been their ability to control possession and the pace of games. After allowing the Eagles to start a track meet in the first 10 minutes, BU quickly buckled down, outplaying BC for most of the final 50.
The win moved the Terriers six points of clear of the Eagles at the top of the conference. BU remains tied with UConn for the league lead ahead of third-placed BC, but the Terriers have a game in hand over each.
Here are three takeaways from the victory:
Moved up to the top line, Kaileigh Quigg came up big.
The freshman forward centered BU’s top line last Friday at Holy Cross when the Terriers were missing three of their best offensive players, but she remained in that spot the following day and, after a week to mull it over, head coach Tara Watchorn kept Quigg on her first line.
Quigg answered with the go-ahead goal at 5:59 of the second, picking out the top corner of Grace Campbell’s net on a wrister from the circle. Campbell had no chance. It was Quigg’s third goal of the year and first Nov. 27, BU’s 8-1 loss to Princeton.
She was far from the first player to center the top line for BU this season. One of the team’s biggest strengths has been its depth up front; just about every forward on the Terriers’ roster has scored a big goal at one point or another, and Watchorn has constantly shuffled her lines and power-play units.
Watchorn hasn’t done that because nothing’s been working; she’s done it, in part, because too many things have been working.
Quigg on Friday was just the latest example.
Lilli Welcke turned the momentum on its head in the first period.
BU was thoroughly outplayed in the first 10 minutes and conceded six minutes in when BC captain Gaby Roy converted a wide-open chance. Roy hit the post directly after a BU turnover a couple minutes later, and if it weren’t for BU goalie Mari Pietersen, BC’s early lead could’ve been bigger.
But 13 minutes into the first, Lilli Welcke turned the game on its head — picking up a BC turnover in BU’s offensive zone, sliding across the slot to find a shooting window and tying the game on a wrister that BC goalie Grace Campbell couldn’t keep out. It was only BU’s third shot on goal of the game.
The fourth goal of Welcke’s junior season ignited the Terriers, who outplayed their arch-rival for the rest of the frame and looked dangerous on the rush. Senior forward Ani Fitzgerald had a wide-open wrister from the circle saved, sophomore Alex Law nearly scored on a miraculous individual effort and junior Clara Yuhn was just late to a brilliant pass across the goal face from senior Christina Vote. Campbell, after a lonely first 10 minutes, had her hands full.
BU only finished the first trailing in shots on goal, 9-8, and was the better team from then on.
Mari Pietersen got the start, and looked good again.
After recording the first two shutouts of her career in last weekend’s sweep of Holy Cross, the sophomore got Watchorn’s nod again — in a game of far bigger magnitude.
Pietersen let in a goal early on a chance she had little chance of stopping, but for most of the game, she was stone cold against the conference’s best offense (by goals per game). Despite being outplayed, BC had a bevy of chances on the rush in the final two periods, and Pietersen stopped all of them. Her most impressive stop came midway through the second — a kick save on a wide-open wrister from Roy in the slot. Yuhn retrieved the rebound and burst down the ice, immediately drawing a penalty.
BC junior Kate Ham tied the game early in the third period from the net front, but Pietersen stood tall after that.
She finished with 24 saves. Watchorn has said this season that senior Callie Shanahan is the No. 1 goalie. Even if that’s still the case, Pietersen is playing about as well as BU could ask out of a No. 2.
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