Women’s Hockey Notebook: Terriers look to get back on track at home against Merrimack
By Patrick Donnelly
The Boston University Terriers (2-3-0) will host the Merrimack College Warriors (1-11-0) for one game at Walter Brown Arena on Friday. It is the Terriers first game action since Sunday, Jan. 24 as BU is coming out of a university-wide pause on athletics, due to the university’s rising COVID-19 cases.
Update: The Terriers will also visit Merrimack for a 12 p.m. start on Sunday.
“They’re ready to go again,” BU head coach Brian Durocher said. “Excitement is in the air, looking forward to some more competition and getting closer to those 10 games we need to have to just be kind of in the NCAA picture.”
BU was originally supposed to play two-game, home-and-home series with Boston College this weekend, but Hockey East announced Wednesday afternoon that the series would not be played as scheduled, scheduling a game with the Warriors in its place.
The visiting Warriors come into the game on a ten-game losing streak with their last victory, a 3-2 result, coming in their second game of the season against Holy Cross on Dec. 12. Merrimack has since scored a mere six goals in the ten-straight losses, and has been held scoreless in their last four contests.
Warriors senior forward Megan Fergusson and sophomore forward Katie Kaufman have paced the team offensively with four points (2g, 2a) each through 10 and 12 games played, respectively. Senior forwards Dominka Lásková (2g, 1a in eight games) and Courtney Maud (1g, 2a in 12 games) each have three points on the year.
In goal, sophomore netminder Emma Gorski holds a 1-11-0 record in addition to a .900 save percentage and 3.75 goals-against average. In one start, a loss, freshman goaltender Aries Musto made 28 saves on 32 shots.
For BU, junior forward Courtney Correia leads the team in scoring with four helpers in five games, although she exited the Terriers’ Jan. 24 game against Maine early with injury. Sophomore forward Julia Nearis (2g, 1a in three games) and senior co-captain Jesse Compher (two goals in two games) sit behind Correia.
Both Compher and Nearis were out against Maine due to COVID-19 protocol, according to Durocher. Compher has not played since the team’s second game of the season, a 4-3 loss to New Hampshire on Dec. 5.
In between the pipes, senior goaltender Corinne Schroeder holds a .915 save percentage, a 1.96 GAA and a 2-2-0 record in four starts. In three appearances, junior netminder Kate Stuart has an 0-1-0 record to go along with an .867 save percentage as well as a 4.07 GAA.
Puck drop between BU and Merrimack is set for 3:30 p.m. at Wally B on Friday afternoon.
More notes ahead of Friday’s game:
BU expects at least three players back this weekend
The Terriers were also without sophomore forward Haylee Blinkhorn and freshman defender Madison Cardaci against Maine, before losing freshman forward Catherine Foulem to injury after the first game of the series.
Durocher said the team expects at least Compher, Foulem and Correia, who has been a full participant at practice, to return to the ice this weekend.
“There’s an outside chance we may have one more back, but that’s still pending,” he added.
Wuthrich is now pain-free
Junior forward Emma Wuthrich made her season debut in the Maine series, coming off offseason surgery. Durocher said she leaves the rink feeling well these days.
“That was not the case last year, partly because of the hip,” he said. “It was really inflicting discomfort, pain on her back. She’s got basically a repaired hip and close to zero back pain.”
Durocher added that he feels BU’s pauses and down time has likely benefitted her the most in her rehab process.
Offense has been tough to come by
The Terriers have eclipsed two goals in a game just once this season, the 4-3 loss to UNH. Since, BU has only scored two goals in their last three games. The Terriers scored twice against UNH in their season-opening win.
Losing Compher and Nearis for a chunk of time certainly does not help, but the Terriers have plenty of talent in their supporting cast to be able to put up more than 1.4 goals per game.
After going down 2-0 to Maine two weeks ago, the Terriers had plenty of puck possession and shots, but no real Grade ‘A’ opportunities. Durocher has an easy formula to get back into games like that.
“Score goal,” he said. “That’s the real simple answer. It changes the complexion [of a game] all the time.”
“Had we scored a goal anywhere in that game – the first period, may be early in the second – all of a sudden we get the energy and get going.”
Freshman blueliners are coming along
BU only has threee veterans among their defense group this season, junior Alex Allan, sophomore Grace Parker and sophomore Nadia Mattivi, as they added four first-year defenders to the mix. While Durocher believes their talent level has met expectations, the freshmen are still adjusting to everything that comes with jumping to the collegiate ranks, saying this year’s group is learning “on the go.”
“Their confidence doesn’t just start in one week or in three or games,” he said. “It takes a little while to gather because of the quickness, the speed, the strength and the just the compete [level].”
“One of them said to me after a game she was amazed how serious everything seems to be at this level. I said ‘yeah this is probably the only other place besides a national team or an Olympic team, where it’s like this because we have preparation time. We have video. wWe have coaches who do it for a living and players who are serious.”
Featured Image: Freshman defender Julia Shaunessy controls the puck in a loss against Maine at Walter Brown Arena on Jan. 24, 2021. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.