Despite losses in its two most recent games, the Boston University women’s hockey team (9-10-2, 7-8-1 Hockey East) will look to regain some momentum in the opening round of the Women’s Beanpot against No. 13 Boston College (12-7-2, 11-3-2 HE) Tuesday evening.
BU will look toward its top scorer, Lacey Martin, and her linemates to continue to generate offensive opportunities as they did in the Terriers’ 5-2 loss to No. 12 UConn (14-6-2, 11-3-1 HE) on Saturday. Against UConn, BU’s solid offensive efforts couldn’t infiltrate the top-notch goaltending, and against BC, they’ll still have to find a way past a top-5 Hockey East goalie in Grace Campbell.
A full 60 minutes of play will also be critical in defeating the Eagles, something the Terriers lacked during their second game back after the break in their 4-1 loss to University of New Hampshire on Friday. The Terriers have now played a few games and are inching closer to that needed consistency.
In their first meeting of the season, BC defeated BU 5-3 by way of two goals late in the third, despite a tied score for the majority of the game. The Terriers were caught in transition often, something they’ve seen improvement on since.
The Beanpot will also see the return of head coach Tara Watchorn, who led Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team to bronze on Sunday. Junior goaltender Callie Shanahan returned between the pipes on Friday against UNH from a knee injury that kept her out for the first half of the season.
BU came in third place in the 2022-23 Beanpot, beating Harvard 7-4 in the consolation game after falling 4-1 to Northeastern in the semifinal.
With the buzz of the Beanpot and the return of two key members of the team, Tuesday is sure to be an exciting game. What’s more, for the first time ever, the second round of the Women’s Beanpot will be held at TD Garden on Jan. 23 – both the consolation and championship games.
Three things to know about Boston College:
- The Eagles are on a six-game undefeated streak, spanning back to the beginning of December. BC most recently tied UNH Saturday after beating Holy Cross 5-0 on Friday.
- Freshman forward Sammy Taber has team-leading 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists) in her first season, with eight to open the second half of the season.
- Between the pipes, Grace Campbell earned her second shutout of the season with the 5-0 win over Holy Cross on Friday. The sophomore boasts a .992 save percentage and 2.37 goals against average through 22 games.
Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon at Harvard’s Bright-Landry Hockey Center. The Boston Hockey Blog will have full, on-the-ground coverage of the tournament so be sure to follow along on Twitter (X) @BOShockeyblog and Instagram @boston.hockey.blog.
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