Head coach Tara Watchorn kept her takeaways short after the Boston University women’s hockey team dropped to 0-4 on the season.
“It’s unfortunate to only show up for one of six periods this weekend,” she said.
For the second consecutive day, the Terriers fell to Colgate at Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, N.Y. On Saturday, BU fell 4-3.
The first 40 minutes of Saturday’s contest looked much like Friday’s game — uninspiring. BU struggled to muster any offense in the first two periods, tallying only nine shots on goal. The Raiders put 32 on graduate goaltender Michelle Pasiechnyk in the first two frames. She kept the Terriers in the game.
“She makes the saves you don’t think she’s gonna make,” Watchorn said. “We gotta play a bit better in front of her.”
On why BU struggled in the first 40 minutes, Watchorn said it’s the Terriers’ mentality that needs to change.
“We just haven’t been connected, and I think it’s more foundational,” she said. “It’s learning how to be one piece of the puzzle, and we got to figure that out.”
At the 8:30 mark of the first period, senior assistant captain Maeve Kelly was sent to the box for cross-checking. Colgate successfully challenged the play for potential head contact. Kelly was awarded a game misconduct, giving the Raiders a five-minute power play, which BU successfully killed. The Terriers struggled to stay out of the box again on Saturday, taking five penalties.
“We got to just dictate the play more in the defensive zone and not be as reactive, whether that’s net-front calls or plays in the corner,” Watchorn said.
Junior forward Emma Pais opened the scoring for Colgate at 7:37 of the second period. Pais fired a wrister from the left circle past Pasiechnyk. Pais then doubled the Raider lead with just 17 seconds to play in the middle frame. Sophomore forward Alexia Aubin picked up an assist on the second goal.
After looking seemingly defeated after the second-period buzzer, BU came out hot to start the third period, finally bringing the game to Colgate.
Kaileigh Quigg, a sophomore forward, opened the score for the Terriers at 2:12. Junior forward Greta Henderson found Quigg in the slot, who beat first-year netminder Brooke Davis. Henderson has been one of BU’s few consistent players over the first four games of the new year.
“She fights hard, she skates 200 feet, and she’ll play physical,” Watchorn said. “That consistency and knowing that’s what you’re gonna get is definitely something that we appreciate from her day in and day out.”
Senior assistant captain Clara Yuhn knotted the game at two apiece at the 7:48 mark. After a drop pass from fellow senior assistant captain Riley Walsh, Yuhn fired home a wrister from the top of the left circle.
Colgate retook the lead at 12:22 courtesy of senior blueliner Casey Borgiel. She recovered a loose puck in front of Pasiechnyk and tucked home a wraparound.
BU got one back right away, just 1:02 later at 13:24, as senior forward Lilli Welcke batted home a loose puck past Davis to tie the game at three.
If there’s one thing the Terriers proved on Saturday, it’s that they have fight in them.
“We challenged them and the players really stepped up,” Watchorn said.
But senior forward Alexis Petford made it 4-3, Raiders, at 14:31. She sniped home a wrist shot from the left circle — one Pasiechnyk had no chance of saving.
The schedule doesn’t lighten up for BU after opening the season with four straight ranked opponents. After a standalone game against Brown next Friday, the Terriers open up Hockey East play. Watchorn wants BU to learn from every experience.
“As long as we’re doing that and we’re defining success in a way that we want to build our identity, I think we’ll keep chipping away,” she said.
