This Boston University women’s hockey team has prepared itself for a familiar foe this weekend.
The “stressed environment” that Minnesota, Colgate and Brown gave them prior to Hockey East play had revealed to them what strengths they could play to and kinks needed to be ironed out.
Taking everything they learned from that stretch, the Terriers put together a full sixty-minute performance that they believed they were building towards — it came in game six with a 4-2 win over the New Hampshire Wildcats.
The importance of the win couldn’t overshadow the professionalism BU showed. They fell down 2-1 in the tail end of the second period and didn’t shy away.
“I think it was very important. But I like how we weren’t too over excited,” said senior captain Maeve Carey, “We took it and we acted like we’ve been there before, and we just keep going, keep our foot on the gas.”
While their foot is on the pedal, their paws will need to stay at ten and two when the Terriers face the No. 12 Northeastern Huskies (4-2-0, 1-0-0) for a home-and-home series.
Pasiechnyk got a win, is she still starting?
Both Michelle Pasiechnyk and Mari Petersen have split time equally in-between the pipes for BU, each with three games under their belts this season. Coach Watchorn mentioned prior to last week’s win that she’d be happy with deciding who would start based on “who’s helping us get wins” — Michelle Pasiechnyk did her part in that category.
Pasiechnyk made 16 straight saves after allowing her second and final goal en route to her first win for the Terriers. The graduate netminder finished with 27 saves and a .931 save percentage against UNH. Does it mean she’s getting the ‘runway’?
“Definitely gives her a check in the win column. That’s for sure,” said Watchorn, “happy with how she’s playing and looking so far this week.”
The answer remains to be seen.
Lots of speed
BU was able to generate momentum through sustained offense from great neutral zone defense in its first win — it’s how they tallied a season-high 40 shots on goal.
Heading into NU, Coach Watchorn emphasized speed. A need from her team’s end and a trait to try and take away from a young, revamped Huskies squad.
“I was actually going back to the episode of Ted Lasso, and they had asked Beard to do a pre-scout on Crystal Palace and he just said ‘lot of speed’,” said Watchorn. “But definitely a fast team — a lot of youth, right?… There’s a lot of talent there. There’s a lot of youth on the back end as well, but a really promising roster for them.”
Scouting the Huskies
Northeastern boasts six skaters who’ve scored above a 0.80 point-per-game rate through six games played. Senior Lily Shannon leads the Huskies with 10 points (two goals, eight assists) — the only one scoring higher than a point per game.
The Huskies present one of the best penalty-kills — ranking sixth in the nation in kill percentage at 94.1 percent.
NU enters into this series coming off a bye week after conceding both of its only losses against Quinnipiac University. The Huskies conceded nine goals to the Bobcats, seven coming from one player, Kahlen Lamarche.
