Cristina Romano
Boston University women’s hockey (0-0, 0-0 Hockey East) opened its season Friday evening at Walter Brown Arena with a 4-4 exhibition shootout win (2-0) over the Concordia Stingers.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Welcke-Welcke-Walsh carried momentum into Friday night.
Part of BU’s postseason surge to a 6th Hockey East title came from this line. This trio tallied 14 points across a span of four playoff games. That chemistry certainly showed in tonight’s game.
Luisa Welcke opened the scoring for the Terriers from a loose puck created by her sister, Lilli and her net front presence. It’s a good sign to see the line already acclimated to each other, especially considering how much they dominated possession and forechecked well.
“Their styles complement each other for sure, I think Riley (Walsh) is even playing with more confidence, which is exciting,” said Head Coach Tara Watchorn, “They’re out there and anytime we can hunt it and get it back and it’s on their sticks, we’re happy.”
It’s also important to note that this line accounted for half of all shots (53%) taken by the Terriers in this game. BU fired 34 shots on Concordia’s Jordyn Verbeek, and the WWW line accounted for 18 of those.
Jackie Wright had the spotlight in the crease for BU.
All three goaltenders on the Terriers roster sheet saw ice time in this exhibition game. Junior Mari Petersen played the first, followed by graduate transfer Michelle Pasiechnyk in the second and the third was netminded by freshman Jackie Wright.
“We made a conscious decision for a lot of different reasons, to play all three,” said Watchorn, “because we got three great goalies, and let’s see where we’re at.”
Petersen saw three shots in the first but conceded a Concordia power play goal that opened the scoring. After taking a two goal lead, the Terriers experienced bad puck luck which led to Concordia tying it up late in the second.
Leading up to the exhibition, Watchorn emphasized her freshman goaltender in high regard from her play in between the pipes.
“Jackie in net, I know she’s our third, but she is definitely pushing the pace in practice,” she said in a midweek video call, “which is really cool to see.”
The Stingers were pressing for a tie and nearly evened the shot totals in the third period. Wright stood on her head, albeit allowing a goal that took the game to overtime.
Nonetheless, the Walpole native finished with a .947 save percentage, stopping 18 of 19 shots between the third and overtime frames. Past that, she was key in her two shootout stops on Concordia to elevate BU to a win.
The future feels fresh.
Four freshmen stood out on the stat sheet: forwards Anežka Čabelová, Mia Vergilii, Lexie Bertelsen and defender Lucy Thiessen.
“We realized we got a lot of talent and speed added to this group,” Watchorn said.
The d-core was an area to watch out for coming into the exhibition, given the bulk of the core from last season graduating. Thiessen stepped up, proving herself as a two-way defender taking four shots, two of which were on net.
Thiessen was constantly open at the top of the circle, ready to rip one-timers and calling for the puck. Tallying a goal or assist is, no doubt, in her future.
Čabelová and Vergilii showed grit on the forecheck, and both tallied assists in the second period.
Choosing a freshman playing in their first collegiate hockey game to take a shootout attempt would not be most coaches first choice. Watchorn definitely made the right one. Bertelsen clinched the win for BU scoring the overtime winner.
“I watched her try and pull that move off this morning, and it didn’t go in this morning, but it looked assertive,” Watchorn said of Bertelsen’s shot. “It looked like something that she’s done a lot. Sometimes in a pressure shootout moment… Having a go-to move is the best way to start.”
The best way to start for Bertelsen, was the best way to end with a win to open 2025-26 season for the Terriers.