Lola Reid, in the middle of a pirouette, was facing her own goal a second before she let it rip.
But if Reid’s proven anything in a season and a half in college hockey, it’s that she can find the back of the opposing team’s net. And despite her awkward positioning at the top of the slot, Merrimack gave BU’s sophomore far too much time at the top of the slot.
The Warriors’ reward? A blistering wrister that rang off the post and left goalie Lauren Lyons no chance. Reid responded to her second goal of the year with an enormous roar and double fist-pump, and you could practically feel a weight lifted off her team as BU took a 1-0 lead midway through the first at Lawler Arena on Friday afternoon.
The Terriers, who entered on a four-game skid, started slow against the lowly Warriors — a concerning sight, to say the least, after two lifeless home losses to Vermont last weekend. Then Reid ignited Tara Watchorn’s team (8-15-3 6-9-2 Hockey East), which dominated the rest of the period, then managed the rest of the game in a 3-0 victory.
These next few weeks will be enormous for Reid, who’s being thrusted into an advanced role on Watchorn’s third line as seniors Luisa and Lilli Welcke represent Germany in Milan. The Omaha, Neb. native famously scored eight goals and won Hockey East Player of the Month during her first 10 NCAA games last season, but she’s struggled to have an impact beyond the scoresheet to this point. Before the Welckes left last Saturday, she’d spent the entire season seeing shifts here and there on BU’s fourth line.
But Watchorn has no choice but to put Reid in the regular rotation now, and while the main way Reid can earn established playing time is probably by doing things other than scoring, Watchorn certainly wasn’t complaining after she tallied that beauty. After all, BU’s student section, The Dog Pound, nicknamed her “Goala Reid” for a reason.
Mostly due to a lack of playing time, she hadn’t scored since Nov. 13 at BC, a power-play tally she scored at the very end of a five-minute major. It took her only two games as a third-liner to light the lamp.
“I’m really happy for her,” assistant coach Megan Quinn said postgame. “She has a great shot, and I’m happy it got through to just get the monkey off her back.”
And it’s worth noting Reid was fairly impactful after her goal, too. Alongside freshman Anežka Čabelová and junior assistant captain Neely Nicholson, there wasn’t a terribly noticeable decrease in energy or production when the third line was on the ice. Reid made her presence known in the neutral and defensive zones, something she’s struggled to do in the past.
“We’d like to see her executing in every zone,” Quinn said. “She has that offensive touch, but she can do more than that, that’s for sure.”
“They’re gonna have great opportunity in front of them,” Watchorn said of Reid and the new third-liners on Saturday. “It’s having ownership of that, it’s exciting knowing ice time’s there. [So] what are you gonna do with it?”
Soon after Reid’s goal, junior Greta Henderson forced a turnover on Merrimack’s blue line and waltzed into a Grade A shorthanded chance, which she calmly buried into high blocker side. It was a significant moment for BU’s penalty kill, which conceded four times over the two losses to Vermont.
And the Terriers probably should’ve scored earlier on that kill — a Riley Walsh five-minute major for cross checking — but senior Sydney Healey was denied from point-blank range by a great save and sophomore Kaileigh Quigg couldn’t convert a juicy rebound. Still, BU dominated those four minutes (MC took a penalty of its own with 1:07 left on the advantage), recording four shots on goal to MC’s one despite the Warriors’ extra player. Henderson’s goal was BU’s fifth shorty of the season.
“It really helped our momentum. It set the tone for the rest of the game,” Quinn said.
Quinn, who coaches BU’s defenders, added the kill was “disconnected the whole weekend” against Vermont.
“This week we really focused on our mindset, and how to push through in those moments and communicate,” she said.
Senior Clara Yuhn added an empty-netter late in the third to seal the victory. BU outshot the hosts, 29-23.
Henderson, a St. Cloud State transfer, was reunited with Walsh on Watchorn’s “energy line,” now running as BU’s second line during the Welckes’ absence. Henderson, Walsh and freshman Lexie Bertelsen were excellent again; Walsh, who missed the second Vermont game because of what Watchorn called “team management,” caused problems on the forecheck constantly, and Henderson and Bertelsen were usually there to pick up the scraps.
That line actually looked quite good with possession in the offensive zone, too — in the second frame, Walsh provided a perfect centering feed to Bertelsen, whose shot from the mid slot was blocked, and Henderson danced through multiple MC defenders before her net-front shot was saved.“They’re generating a bit more than they normally do,” Quinn said. “Being rewarded for all the hard work they put in.”
Watchorn tried to talk up the lowly Warriors (5-19-3) midweek, calling a group with a 2-13-1 conference record a “hard team to get wins against,” but this was always a golden opportunity for the reeling Terriers to get right. It wasn’t perfect — BU saw spells of dominance, but it probably wasn’t as consistent as Watchorn would’ve liked — but a victory is a victory, one BU needed dearly headed into the final month of the regular season.
And remember, Vermont last weekend appeared like a good rebound opportunity after the heartbreaking Beanpot final loss, and that… didn’t go great.
Michelle Pasiechnyk started both those games against the Cats and was between the pipes again on Friday. The graduate made 23 saves and recorded the first shutout of her return to college hockey after a year-long break. The former National Goalie of the Year flashed a huge smile as her teammates greeted her following the final buzzer.
“Mich just brings some calmness,” Quinn said. “Very calm back there, very poised. You know what you’re gonna get with her.”
Junior Mari Pietersen, who was on fire heading into the Beanpot final, hasn’t seen the ice since she allowed Harvard’s game-winning overtime penalty shot. It’s a decision made by Watchorn, with the help of goaltenders coach Bret Gilmour.
“We haven’t even discussed it yet,” Quinn said. “I’m not sure the route we’re gonna go yet, but we’re pretty confident with either of them in the net right now, so that’s a good problem to have.”
