Women’s Hockey: Three takeaways from BU’s sweep of Merrimack
By Patrick Donnelly
The Boston University Terriers (3-2) completed a dominant sweep of the Merrimack College Warriors (1-13) last weekend.
BU stomped the Warriors on Friday, winning 6-0 at Walter Brown Arena as junior goaltender Kate Stuart notched a shutout and junior forward Courtney Correia added two goals and an assist. On Sunday, the Terriers once again shutout Merrimack, thanks to senior netminder Corinne Schroeder’s 18 saves.
Here are my three takeaways from the weekend – all opinions are my own:
Courtney Correia has taken that next step
Correia had four total points on the weekend, adding an assist on Sunday after Friday’s multi-point effort. She had four assists in five games entering the series, and had gotten robbed on a couple scoring opportunities back at the very beginning of the season.
The junior has always been an extremely versatile, hard-nosed player for the Terriers, playing wing and center (even more so this year), skating on the power play and penalty kill, and being responsible in all three zones. She’s hard to play against, and her motor is always running at 100% on the ice.
Correia improved offensively from her freshman to sophomore years (8-7-15 in 37 games to 8-9-17 in 36 games), and although she may not top those numbers this year due to the shortened season, she’s showing that she has once again taken a further step in her development, scoring at a point per game clip (2-6-8 in 6 games).
Whether it’s the smooth finishing ability on breakaways, her intensity, or all-around play, she’s a key cog for this team, and it wouldn’t shock me in the slightest if she had a letter on her jersey next year.
Jesse Compher drives the bus
Is there anyone more important to this team than Compher? She returned to action for the first time in exactly two months on Friday, and her impact on the ice was evident from the drop of the puck. BU’s power play and all-around offensive attack looked much more dynamic and dangerous with her on the ice, driving more scoring chances through the danger areas in the middle of the ice.
It didn’t look like she missed a beat, scoring a goal and an assist on Friday and adding another helper on Sunday. The senior-co-captain is up to five points (3g, 2a) in four games on the year. When Compher’s on the ice, you notice.
BU needed a weekend like this
For a team as offensively challenged as BU has been this season, exploding for eight goals over two games is a breath of fresh air.
After managing to earn a 1-0 win before getting shutout 2-0 against Maine two weeks ago, the Terriers clearly didn’t look right offensively, especially as the game wore on in the loss. Granted, the team was coming out of over a month of down time and did not have Compher or sophomore forward Julia Nearis in the lineup; however, there is enough talent in the supporting cast to still be able to capitalize.
Although Merrimack is certainly not the toughest test the Terriers will face, having a dominant weekend and close to a clean bill of health for the team as a whole, BU can use their last series as a springboard to build confidence and momentum heading into an important series with Vermont.
The Terriers will return to action this weekend as they host the Catamounts for two games.
Featured Image: Junior forward Courtney Correia tracks the play in a win against Merrimack at Walter Brown Arena on Feb. 5, 2021. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.