With around 10 minutes remaining in the second period of the Boston University women’s hockey team’s game against New Hampshire at Walter Brown Arena, BU’s Dog Pound erupted into celebration.
Neither team had scored a goal, nothing notable was happening in the game and there was no announcement of free El Jefe’s Taqueria or of a T-Shirt toss.
Providence College’s 4-2 win over Connecticut had just gone final, meaning that with a regulation win over New Hampshire, the Terriers could secure their first Hockey East regular season title in 12 years.
Instead, BU (21-9-2, 18-5-2 Hockey East) walked away empty-handed after a 2-2 tie and shootout loss to the middling Wildcats (15-15-2, 11-13-1 HE).
“Not the outcome we wanted,” said head coach Tara Watchorn. “I think in a lot of ways, we just couldn’t get out of our own way.”
When Providence’s victory went final at Schneider Arena, the Terriers were leading, 2-1, and in control of the game. Things spiraled from there.
UNH junior forward Alyson Hush — who scored both of the Wildcats’ goals — knocked home a loose puck to make it 2-2 at 14:39 of the third.
New Hampshire goalie Sedona Blair shut the Terriers down thereafter, making 13 saves in the third period, four in overtime and eight in the shootout to secure the result.
Senior captain Tamara Giaquinto scored both of BU’s goals. The first was a seeing-eye shot that snuck through Blair at 10:02 of the first with lots of traffic by the crease. On the next, with the game tied 1-1 after Hush’s first goal, Giaquinto did well to anticipate the rebound of a shot from Sydney Healey. The puck came straight to the stick of Giaquinto, who blasted it into an open net.
“Played like our captain,” Watchorn said. “She showed up and really got us going from the get-go.”
But when Blair was able to track the puck, she was almost impossible to beat. She’s allowed just four goals in three games against BU this year.
“She’s a good goalie,” Watchorn said. “I was really impressed with our composure. I thought we played patient, didn’t try to force it and created some good opportunities. It just didn’t go in.”
Even though BU’s chance to clinch the regular-season title evaporated once the game went to overtime, the Terriers would have earned at least a share of the conference crown with an overtime or shootout win.
That made for a particularly consequential shootout. BU’s Lilli Welcke and UNH’s Julia Cabral traded goals in the opening round, but neither of the teams found the net for the next six rounds.
Watchorn tried the hot hand with Giaquinto in the second round, but the captain’s wrister whistled wide. Maggie Hanzel skated out for the fourth round, but Blair snuffed out her second attempt at the “no shot” move — also dubbed ‘The Kucherov’ — this season.
When senior Liv Haag finally found the net for the Terriers in the eighth round, UNH’s Chavonne Truter promptly responded with a goal of her own. A few rounds later, New Hampshire sophomore forward Sydney Leonard put one past senior goalie Callie Shanahan to cement the disappointing afternoon for BU.
The Terriers are still in position to secure the top seed in the Hockey East tournament and win the regular season title, but they’ll need to secure at least an overtime win next weekend in a home-and-home series against a formidable UConn team.
BU (57 points) will play two against the Huskies (52) next weekend — at 3 p.m. Friday in Storrs and at 4 p.m. Saturday in Boston. Between those two games, all the Terriers need are two points.
Watchorn said she hopes Saturday’s result can serve as a lesson heading into that consequential final weekend.
“We’re a good hockey team,” Watchorn said. “We’ve got to find ways to win big games.”
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