Terriers Sweep Weekend Series in Vermont

By: Brian Lombardo

BURLINGTON, Vt. — The Boston University women’s hockey team stood tough with a convincing 3-1 win over the University of Vermont Catamounts. The Terriers tallied one goal in each of the three periods, with senior captain Rebecca Leslie leading the way.

Leslie notched two goals on the game. Her first came with less than two minutes remaining in the opening period, when she scooped up a rebound off her own shot and slotted the puck in the back of the net. The goal was her ninth of the season.

Leslie’s ninth was soon followed up by her tenth of the year, putting the Terriers ahead in the second period. After conceding the equalizer in the dying seconds of the first, BU went ahead for good with a strike on a 4-on-3.

After taking a pass from redshirt-sophomore Abbey Stanley, Leslie walked down the right side of the UVM zone and fired a shot from the face-off circle. The laser snuck past Vermont’s Melissa Black to give the Terriers the lead.

In the other cage, Corrine Schroeder appears to be the Terriers’ answer in net after a slow start to the season. The freshmen goaltender made 35 saves on 36 shots Saturday night, with her only blemish coming with 5.1 seconds left in the first.

After the Terriers were sloppy with the puck in their own zone, UVM’s Saana Valkama found her first goal of the season with a crafty deflection off a Kourtney Menches backhander from the high slot.

From there on out, Schroeder was a brick wall in net for the Terriers, saving the final 25 shots she faced through the second and the third periods. An astonishing 17 saves in the third period slammed the door shut on the Catamounts.

Perhaps what was most impressive feat from this Terrier win was their ability to kill penalties. The BU penalty kill was especially busy in the third period, where the team held the Catamounts to 0-for-5 on the man-advantage.

Victoria Bach added the insurance tally for the Terriers early in the third. Taking a pass from Leslie, Bach struck for her fifth of the weekend after skating in on Black and tucking the puck behind her.

After a bad first month of the season in Hockey East play where they went 0-4, the Terriers are hitting their stride, posting a 3-1-2 record since. An overall in-conference record of 3-5-2 is good enough for 8 points and fifth place in the standings.

The Terriers will face their toughest test yet next weekend as they head down to Arlington, Va. to face Minnesota State (11/24) and the top ranked women’s ice hockey team in Division 1, the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers (11/25). BU will return home to face Brown on the 28th.