Women’s Hockey: Three takeaways from the Terriers’ split with Maine
By Patrick Donnelly
Fresh off splitting a weekend series with the University of Maine Black Bears, the Boston University Terriers will be going on pause once again as all BU athletic activities have been halted. The pause comes as COVID-19 cases rise due to BU’s campus repopulating for the spring semester, according to the athletic department.
Regardless, let’s unpack the action from this past weekend. BU took Saturday’s game by a score of 1-0 as senior co-captain Nara Elia notched the only goal with senior goaltender Corinne Schroeder making all 20 saves for her fifth career shutout.
Maine powered back on Sunday afternoon, winning 2-0, thanks to sophomore forward Ida Kouppala and freshman forward Rahel Enzler as well as 37 saves from senior goaltender Loryn Porter.
Here are my three takeaways from the weekend – all opinions are my own:
Schroeder returning to form
After stopping 18 of 19 shots against New Hampshire in the season-opener, Schroeder allowed four goals on 22 shots against Connecticut before the winter break. Granted, as head coach Brian Durocher acknowledged after the debacle, Schroeder did not get a whole lot of help from her teammates, but nevertheless, the performance was very uncharacteristic.
This weekend, in her first action in over a month, Schroeder looked like what many have come to expect: a star goaltender, whose size and sound fundamentals allow her to be in the right position to make the easy save. Although Sunday’s outing was not nearly as dominant as Saturday, Schroeder still managed to bail her team out on several occasions on both games. The two goals she gave up were off a deflection in front and terribly blown defensive coverage. Schroeder will be just fine going forward.
Roster depth is being put to the test
BU was down to just 11 forwards and six defenders on Saturday with first year blueliner Madison Cardaci, sophomore forwards Haylee Blinkhorn and Julia Nearis as well as senior co-captain Jesse Compher out of the lineup, due to COVID-19 protocol, according to Durocher.
On Sunday, the Terriers were down to 10 forwards at the start of the game after freshman Catherine Foulem was injured on Saturday. Before the end of the game, BU had just nine healthy skaters up front as sophomore forward Courtney Correia exited the game early with injury.
The amount of forwards out of the lineup certainly helps explain why BU came away with merely one goal in the two games, and by the end of Sunday’s contest, fatigue had appeared to take its course on the Terriers. Barring any issues with COVID-19 during this pause, one can only hope the Terriers come at least close to a clean bill of health when they next play.
Terriers could really use Jesse Compher and Julia Nearis right now
Speaking of only scoring one goal on the weekend, BU really would have benefitted from having two of their offensive stars in the lineup, especially their best player in Compher. Missing so many regulars in their forward group, the Terriers clearly struggled to drive scoring chances at even-strength and sustain offensive pressure, especially on Sunday.
While BU had plenty of puck possession and shots in the loss, most chances were generated from the point and around the perimeter of the attacking zone, and not between the face-off dots. Adding a dynamic player like Compher and a skater with goal-scoring talent like Nearis back into the lineup should certainly help BU rack up more high-danger scoring opportunities. Again, the team can only hope they return sooner rather than later.
The Terriers were originally scheduled to face the No. 7 Boston College Eagles in the Battle of Comm. Ave. this weekend, but due to BU Athletics going on pause, the series will not be played. According to the athletic department, how events scheduled beyond this weekend will be affected is to be determined later this week.
Featured Image: Senior goaltender Corinne Schroeder tracks the play in a loss against Maine at Walter Brown Arena on Jan. 24, 2021. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.