Women’s Hockey: After pause, Terriers set to return to action vs. Maine

By Patrick Donnelly

Following a lengthy pause after a member of the program tested positive for coronavirus coming out of the winter break, the Boston University Terriers (1-2-0) will return to action this weekend as they welcome the University of Maine Black Bears (4-5-0) for a two-game series at Walter Brown Arena.

The Terriers have not played a game since Dec. 11, a 4-1 loss on the road against UConn.

“Everybody wants to play games,” BU head coach Brian Durocher said. “Everyone is having fun in practice and trying to regain some of their conditioning after our pause, but there’s nothing like games.”

“They’re going to be excited to see a different jerseys see a different team and certainly play game.”

Maine comes into this series having played just one game since Jan. 4, a 2-3 overtime loss to Northeastern on Jan. 17, marking a three-game losing streak for the Black Bears with all three losses coming against the Huskies.

“The same could be said for the University of Maine,” Durocher said. “We’ll have to, again, still kind of learn on the fly. Three games doesn’t make a season.”

For BU, junior forward Courtney Correia (4a) and sophomore forward Julia Nearis (2g, 1a) have led the way offensively, scoring at a point per game clip. Senior captain Jesse Compher also has two goals in two games.

In goal, senior Corinne Schroeder holds a 1-1-0 record with a 3.00 goals-against average and an .878 save percentage through two starts. Junior netminder Kate Stuart has a 0-1-0 marker in addition to a 4.07 GAA and an .867 save percentage, making 26 saves on 30 shots in her only start on the year.

For Maine, sophomore forward Ida Kouppala boasts four goals and two assists through eight games to set the pace for the Black Bears so far. Meanwhile, junior forward Ally Johnson has a pair of goals and assists for four points on the campaign so far.

Between the pipes, senior goaltender Loryn Porter has been a force for Maine this season, boasting a .948 save percentage and a 1.88 GAA to go along with a 4-5-0 record in nine starts on the year.

Puck-drop for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Sunday’s contest is set to get underway at 3 p.m.

Featured Image: Forward Julia Nearis skates with the puck in Game 2 of the Hockey East Quarterfinals at Walter Brown Arena on Feb. 29, 2020. Photo by Hannah Yoshinaga.