BU Women’s Hockey Looks to Extend Winning Streak, Hosts Yale Tuesday
By: David Souza
Fresh off of their 4-3 upset win over the 5th ranked Quinnipiac Bobcats, the Yale Bulldogs (1-2-0, 1-1-0 ECAC) will travel up I-95 to face off with the Boston University Terriers (5-4-0 overall, 4-1-0 HE).
BU is coming off of a come from behind 5-3 victory over the University of New Hampshire where they trailed the entire game before finally taking the lead in the third period. Led by the heroic two-goal performance by freshman Sammy Davis, the Terriers stormed back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits versus the Wildcats on Sunday. Davis currently leads the team in goals with 7 and is second in points with 9.
Complementing Davis’ recent scoring stretch has been Victoria Bach. The sophomore Ontario native led the NCAA in points for rookies last season and is at the top of the scoring chart for the Terriers with 10 total points (3g, 7a). In addition to her goal and two assists versus UNH, the first line center also hit the post on another attempt.
In net for the Terriers will once again be sophomore Erin O’Neil. The Hopkins product has started three straight games for the Terriers and it appears as if the starting job is hers to lose after her counterpart Victoria Hanson surrendered six to the Huskies of Northeastern. O’Neil, after allowing three goals on 39 shots verses the Wildcats, boasts a 2.56 goals-against average along with a .918 save percentage.
Hanson, contrastingly, has allowed four more goals in 27 less minutes; however, the quality of opponents she has played has been far greater than that of O’Neil. The Stoughton, Massachusetts native has faced the likes of U.S Olympian Kendall Coyne and has seen her stats inflated due to a bad outing at NU’s Matthews Arena.
BU will once again be without senior assistant captain Sarah Lefort as the winger is currently playing for Team Canada in the Four Nations Tournament in Sweden. Lefort had a whopping 50 points last season, but has only managed four through eight games thus far.
Opposing the Terriers will be the Yale University Bulldogs, led by senior forward Janelle Ferrara. The Winthrop, MA native currently leads Yale with 5 points (4g, 1a) following a season in which she had 22 points, but only 3 goals.
Five players are currently tied for second on the team in scoring, including freshman Jordan Chancellor. The 5’5” forward hails from The Blake School in Minneapolis, MN where she played varsity hockey for five years.
Junior Hanna Mandl will most likely be in between the pipes for the Bulldogs as she has started all three games for the small Connecticut based university. The junior is getting her first taste of being the everyday starter for Yale; she has only started in eight collegiate games. In those contests, and the five others she has played in, Mandl’s numbers have been satisfactory; however, her stats this year bode well for the Terriers as the Ontario native allows 4.35 goals per game in addition to her .843 save percentage.
While Joakim Flygh’s squad has a sub-.500 record thus far, the Bulldogs are in high spirits after taking down a top-five Quinnipiac team that was, until that point, undefeated.
Comparatively, the Terriers will be highly motivated after their come from behind win in Durham, NH. Following the Yale contest will be a home-and-home series with the rival Boston College Eagles the following weekend; the Terriers will be looking to finely tune their skills and play a full 60 minutes against a tough team in preparation for the 10-0-0 Eagles.
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Walter Brown Arena.