Women’s Hockey: Battle of Comm. Ave continues this weekend with home-and-home slate

By: Patrick Donnelly

The Boston University Terriers (4-4-4, 3-4-4 WHEA) and the No. 4 Boston College Eagles (12-4-0, 9-2-0 WHEA) will continue the storied Green Line Rivalry as the two go at it in a home-and-home weekend matchup with the Terriers traveling to Conte Forum on Friday night before hosting the Eagles at Walter Brown Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Brian Durocher’s Terriers have been playing some of their best hockey lately, going 3-1-1 over their last five games.

The Terriers are coming off a huge 5-2 win over Brown on Tuesday, just a week after they lost 4-3 in a close, hard-fought matchup against BC.

The Terriers were outplayed for most of last week’s matchup against the Eagles as Corinne Schroeder was peppered with 37 shots compared to the 13 shots faced by BC’s freshman phenom, Maddy McArthur.

To Durocher and his team’s credit, they never gave up during the loss, overcoming an early two-goal deficit to tie the game at 2-2 and battling back in the third to pull within one before falling short in a 4-3 decision. Compher and Davis each had two-point nights in the loss.

Although collective improvement from up and down the lineup has helped contribute to the Terriers’ recent run, it has been the strong play of sophomore goaltender Corinne Schroeder and the dominance of the first line of Jesse Compher, Sammy Davis, and Mackenna Parker that’s stood out.

Compher (7G, 12A, 19 points in 12 games) and Davis (8G, 7A, 15 points in 12 games) have been absolutely on fire this season while Parker has gotten hot since her promotion to the first line with six points (4G, 2A) over her last six games; five of those points have come over the last four games.

Schroeder has been a strong in net all season for the Terriers, posting a .922 save percentage, a 2.22 goals-against-average, and a 3-4-4 record to go with her first career shutout.

While the Terriers are coming into the weekend after their win at Brown, the Eagles will be looking to avenge for their 5-4 overtime loss to No. 5 Northeastern on Tuesday night.

BU will need to bring the same high-powered offense from Tuesday night in order to solve McArthur, who holds a 1.53 GAA and .931 save percentage through 15 starts. With that in mind, Durocher’s Terriers cannot about defense either as BC boasts one of the more potent attacks in the nation, led by Mackenna Newkirk who has 19 points so far this season.

Friday’s matchup marks the 54th all-time matchup between the two sides as the Terriers are 17-29-7 against the Eagles, including a 7-13-4 record on the road. Six of the last seven matchups between the Terriers and the Eagles have been decided by one goal or less with BU’s last victory over BC coming in a 5-3 decision at Walter Brown Arena on November 5, 2016.

The action kicks off Friday night at 6pm at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill followed by a Saturday matinee at 3pm at Walter Brown Arena.