Women’s Hockey: Offense Explodes in 7-2 Win

By: Max Wolpoff

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With five points from graduate student Mary Parker, the Boston University Terriers coasted to victory over Penn State by a final of 7-2. Parker scored three of those goals, while Sammy Davis, Maddie Elia, Connor Galway, and Mary Grace Kelley padded the lead.

“I think a lot of that started by [the team] being more demanding on themselves individually,” BU head coach Brian Durocher said. “It was a lot more than one person or one line, it was a pretty thourough effort.”

53 seconds into the first, Parker put the Terriers in front. Elia chased a dump-in, allowing her teammates to change behind her. Elia beat out the Nittany Lions and found Alexis Crossley at the center point. Crossley shot at Hannah Ehresmann, who stopped the shot and could not control it. Parker shoved it behind the line for her 46th collegiate goal.

Three minutes later, Aly Hardy put home her first career goal to tie the game. The junior out of St. Albans, Vt. kept her shot on the ice, aiming for and finding the stick side post of Victoria Hanson.

20 seconds later, Parker again found twine. Victoria Bach teed-up Nina Rodgers, who sent the puck wide of the net. Ehersmann could not get back to the post fast enough, as the Milton-native slid home her second goal.

Ehresmann’s night wouldn’t last much longer as Sammy Davis tipped a Sarah Steele slap-shot into the net on the power play. She finished with eight saves in 15 minutes of playing time before being replaced by Daniela Paniccia.

“We continued to get pucks deep and do things at a quick pace,” Durocher said. ” I think, in the end, we kinda tired them out.”

With the second period, the Terriers opened on the penalty kill, then took another hooking penalty soon after. With the extra attacker on, Abby Welch scored her first collegiate goal to bring Penn State back within one.

Once again, Parker took the reigns to regain the two-goal lead. On another BU power play, Parker drove wide on the right side and lifted a backhand under the crossbar and into the net for the hat trick. A short video review was need to confirm that the puck did in fact go into the net.

“I kinda thought it hit the crossbar, but didn’t know where it went from there,” Durocher said. “We’ve got the equipment, might as well take a peak at something like that that’s really, really quick.”

Galway sent her first career goal in from the blue line, finding the top-right corner. Elia finished off a four-on-one rush play after the Nittany Lions got caught on a bad shift change while penalty killing.

Then, with time winding down in the third period, Kelley and Flynn were given a shift with Parker. Parker sent Kelley up ice, and she rewarded the pass with her first goal of the season.

BU went a perfect five-for-five on the penalty kill, limiting Penn State to six shots on net.

Hanson finished her night with 21 saves, and no more than 10 in a single period. “I think we’ll keep with our rotation,” Durocher said when asked about who would start next.

The Terriers only have three skaters — Deziray De Sousa, Breanna Sacrapaci, and Natalie Flynn — without a point this season after today’s outburst. Parker finished the game with 99 collegiate points (48 goals, 51 assists) in her 109 game career.

After busing back to campus, the Terriers will turn around and take on cross-town rivals Northeastern on Tuesday night in a road game at Matthews Arena.

BU (3-1-1, 2-1-0 Hockey East) gets their first win in over a week, and returns to Massachusetts for a matchup against Northeastern on Tuesday. Penn State (1-4-1, 0-0-0 CHA) will not see Pegula Ice Arena again until November 11 against conference rival Lindenwood.