Women’s Hockey: Three takeaways from split with Vermont

By Patrick Donnelly

The Boston University Terriers (5-4) managed to secure a split of their two-game series with the University of Vermont Catamounts (6-2-0) at Walter Brown Arena this past weekend.

The Terriers were shut out by UVM, 4-0, on Friday before bouncing back to defeat the Catamounts, 4-1, on Saturday.

Here are my three takeaways from the weekend – all opinions are my own:

Compher Line showing chemistry

Catherine Foulem, Jesse Compher and Mackenna Parker have been on the top line together for four games now. In that span they’ve combined for 10 points at even-strength, and two on special teams. Compher has six points (3g, 3a) in that span, while Parker (2g, 1a) and Foulem (1g, 2a) each have three.

After Friday’s offensive debacle, their line had a hand in all four BU goals on Saturday, and accounted for each of the three even-strength tallies in the win. Head coach Brian Durocher seems to have taken a balanced approach to his forward combinations, and in three of BU’s four games since their pause, it has paid off, especially with the Compher line.

The top line showed flashes of what they could do together in the sweep against Merrimack, and had it on full display in Saturday’s win. For BU’s sake, offensively, one hopes the connection continues.

Continued power play struggles cause more concern

BU has uncharacteristically struggled on the advantage all season, a point of strength in prior years. Perhaps losing weapons such as Abby Cook and Sammy Davis to graduation is a major source of the problem, but with the likes of Compher, Nara Elia and Kaleigh Donnelly still on the team (three-fifths of last year’s top unit), it’s been a puzzling point of weakness.

There’s no clear cut diagnosis for the Terriers’ struggles. Maybe it’s been a matter of puck luck, or having a predictable attack. Whatever the problem may be, it hampered BU again against UVM.

BU squandered all three chances it had on the advantage on Friday, all of which came while the game was still 1-0, Vermont. A goal on either of those completely changes the complexion and outcome of the game. Saturday proved to be a better effort, as the group scored on one of their two opportunities, so maybe that can be the spark the team has needed.

BU has had plenty of chances on the advantage, and moved the puck well. But in the end, there has to be production to be successful.

Penalty kill as strong as ever

Unlike the power play, the Terriers’ penalty kill has been great so far this year, and that strength was on display against UVM over the weekend. Currently, BU 96.6 percent success rate on the penalty kill this season (first in the league), allowing just one power play goal on 29 opportunities.

Vermont had been working at a 20.8 percent clip on the advantage on the year (second in the league), heading into last weekend, but BU managed to hold the Catamounts scoreless on all four opportunities over the two games.

The Terriers have been hard on the puck and quick to clear it out of the zone when given the opportunity, making life difficult for opposing attacks. As stagnant as BU’s power play attack is, on the other side of special teams, the penalty kill has been exceptional this season. We’ll see how it stands up moving forward.

The Terriers will return to action this weekend as they will play a two-game home-and-home series against rival Boston College to close out their regular season.

Featured Image: Freshman forward Catherine Foulem pursues the puck in a loss to Vermont at Walter Brown Arena on Feb. 12, 2021. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.

Share this: