Last weekend, BU women’s hockey proved they could hang with any team in the country. Coming into this weekend, BU seemed poised to carry this same momentum, looking to tally their first win of the regular season.
However, after the first period of their matchup against No. 8 Colgate tonight, it looked like a different Terrier team.
“Colgate is a good team, but we can put up a much better effort than that and show up more prepared,” head coach Tara Watchorn said.
BU (0-3) fell 3-1 to Colgate (1-2), as the Raiders caught the Terriers on their heels early and BU struggled to generate offense throughout.
At the start of the first period, though BU came out slow, they showed small signs of offensive promise. Just over three minutes into the frame, the Terriers were granted their first power-play opportunity of the night.
Senior forward Lilli Wecke generated two quality shots on goal during the man advantage, but two clears from the Raiders kept BU floundering for sustained possession.
Despite difficulties on the power play, freshman forward Lexi Bertelsen lit the lamp for BU first. Bertelsen broke out of the neutral and ripped a wrist shot from the circle, threading the five-hole to beat Colgate netminder Farah Walker.
“She could skate the game right,” Watchorn said of Bertelsen. “She was playing at pace…it was definitely fun to see her get her first one.”
Bertelsen asserted herself on the forecheck throughout the game, creating turnovers and outskating players, which ultimately set her up for her first collegiate goal.
After that early push, the game began to slip from BU’s grasp. The Terriers struggled to exit the neutral zone cleanly, and when they did manage offensive zone time, shot quality remained low.
With under 30 seconds left in the first, Colgate forward Emma Pais tied the game off a neutral-zone interception, pouncing on a sloppy BU pass.
The second period opened with more of the same. BU’s play remained passive, and Colgate controlled the pace, dominating offensive zone time. The Terriers generated few chances, and even fewer that tested the Raider netminder.
“We gotta dictate the play more defensively,” Watchorn said. “We were so reactive to them all night, in every zone of the ice.”
Eight minutes into the frame, Lilli Welcke was called for a hooking penalty. A sliver of light shone for BU as they killed off the penalty, but as time ran out to the player disadvantage, senior captain Maeve Carey was called for an interference penalty.
The Raiders were quick to seize this power play chance, with Pais taking the lead with a shot from the slot with no defenders covering her.
This back-to-back penalty trend plagued BU in their last matchup against Minnesota as well.
“Our PK can be foundationally better,” Watchorn said. “There are things we do well, but I think we are over complicating it. If we do the foundational things right, we are not going to fight momentum.”
Goaltender Mari Pietersen kept BU in contention for the rest of the match. In the second frame she was peppered with shots and rebound opportunities, but she held strong, only allowing Pais’s goals. Pietersen made 28 saves on the night, good for a .933 save percentage.
“She kept us in it,” Watchorn said. “That could have been a lot different score tonight.”
The Terriers were granted their last power play opportunity with five minutes left in the game but again, could not generate. Colgate tallied two strong shot opportunities when they were down a player, and BU could not regain possession.
In a last-ditch effort, BU pulled Pietersen for the extra skater, but, as seen in earlier special team struggles, the move fell short. Colgate sealed the win with an empty-netter in the final 40 seconds.
“That didn’t feel like BU hockey today,” Watchorn said.
Should the Terriers hope to bounce back tomorrow, they must assert the energy and confidence they had last weekend — and last season.
