Cristina Romano
The Boston University women’s hockey team didn’t build its schedule the way it did to be undefeated heading into Hockey East play.
Not that the Terriers wanted to be 0-5, either. But that’s what they are, and head coach Tara Watchorn and No. 15 BU aren’t about to panic. After all, you don’t open the season with a pair of series against Minnesota and Colgate and a home game with pesky Brown if you want to stack wins. You do it to learn, and the Terriers feel they learned plenty.
“Where we need to put our energy is starting to show itself, which I’m really excited about,” a notably unconcerned Watchorn said on her midweek media call ahead of BU’s conference opener against New Hampshire. “That’s why we scheduled the games — to stress our environment, to see where we’re at, to see where our strengths are and where we need to get better. And I feel like those five games did that.”
Miraculously, BU is still ranked in the USCHO poll, a placement that’s garnered plenty of chatter on social media. But even though the Terriers blew a lead in a frustrating 2-1 loss to the Bears last Friday, Watchorn and senior assistant captain Sydney Healey agreed after the game BU took steps in the right direction. Watchorn doubled down on that sentiment midweek, citing the Terriers’ improved line changes, sustained offensive zone time and overall professionalism.
Those were all things Watchorn had criticized when BU was swept at Colgate the weekend before, a challenging series against a blueblood program that exposed the Terriers’ deficiencies.
“We talked about our changes. We talked about our communications and debriefs,” Healey said postgame. “And I think it was very apparent on the bench and during the [Brown] game…and those are the little things that add up.”
Watchorn also pointed to another layer of all this — BU is not the same team it was last season. It’s far younger and far less experienced with each other. The Terriers have seven freshmen, three of whom are playing significant roles, and an entirely new leadership group. BU isn’t where it was when it won Hockey East at the end of last season, because of course it isn’t. Nine upperclassmen graduated.
Watchorn admitted the Terriers have heightened expectations this season after the success of 2024-25 but also declared BU can’t simply pick up where it left off.
“How do we meet this group where they are?” Watchorn said when asked how she’s preventing her team from panicking.
The place this team ultimately wants to get is different, too. Whereas last season’s group was at its best when it slowed games down and dominated possession, using physicality and structure to suffocate the neutral zone, the strengths of Watchorn’s third team aren’t the same. It’s a smaller, faster roster with the ability to play on the rush and score pretty goals — one that put its offensive talent on display in a promising performance over two games against Minnesota. Watchorn claimed during that series that it took last season’s team months to get to a point where it was playing as fast as the Terriers were versus the Gophers.
“Even more creativity,” said Watchorn of how this team is different. “We’re talking about them being able to make reads and make decisions that this team has an ability to get to. So it’s going to seem even more free, even though the habits and the discipline and the reason they’re making decisions is [still] there.”
Getting there is just going to take time, and Watchorn knows it. She was asked on her midweek call if she was framing the start of Hockey East play as the beginning of a new season and said her instinct was to do the opposite.
“I don’t think that needs to be our mindset. We don’t need a fresh start, we want to find a place to build,” Watchorn said. “I’m proud of the start we’ve had, and I’m proud that we’ve identified where we are now.”
No clarity in goal — yet
Watchorn was unable to name a starting goalie for Friday’s game in her midweek call on Wednesday, implying it was too early in the week and she had yet to make a decision.
Junior Mari Pietersen started against Brown, her third start of the season. Graduate Michelle Pasiechnyk started the series finale against both Minnesota and Colgate.
Watchorn was asked if her goal was to eventually settle on a firm No. 1 goalie, the role Callie Shanahan played last year. Watchorn said she wants to get to a point where she’s deciding who’s in goal based on who’s helping the team win.
Given BU doesn’t have a win yet, it’s difficult for her to do that. But Watchorn seemed to imply that if either Pietersen or Pasiechnyk can start stacking wins, they’ll continue to get the nod.
“If we start getting some wins here, we give the ability to each of them to earn a runaway,” Watchorn said.
Scouting the Wildcats
UNH finished seventh in Hockey East last season but went 1-1-1 against BU. The Wildcats lost in the first round of the league tournament to Merrimack.
Friday’s game will also be the HE opener for UNH, which is 3-3-1 so far this season and is coming off a 3-1 victory at Union. Freshman forward Nina Rossi leads the Wildcats in goals (three), while senior forward Alyson Hush — who scored three goals against BU last season — has four assists and two goals for six points. Hush is UNH’s leading returning scorer; the Wildcats lost their five top point-getters from last year.