Women’s Hockey: Terriers open season with win at UNH

By Owen Gund

DURHAM, N.H. – The Boston University Terriers (1-0-0, 1-0-0 HE) kicked off their 2021-22 season with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over the University of New Hampshire Wildcats (0-1-0, 0-1-0 HE) at the Whittemore Center on Friday night. In his post-game press conference, Terrier head coach Brian Durocher said he saw this win as a vital confidence booster for his team.

“[It’s] real important because I can’t reach into my briefcase and hand a confidence card to people,” Durocher said. “On the ice, we try to give them a little bit of direction, but in the end, they have to play.

“It’s amazing how confidence goes. This was maybe a team confidence [booster] today where as a group they felt good about themselves. They came out and they won.”

The game started with a tough break for the Terriers. Just 22 seconds into the game, senior forward Emma Wuthrich turned the puck over in the neutral zone with a tape-to-tape pass to UNH forward Kira Juodikis. Using Terrier defender Andi Calderone as a screen, a streaking Juodikis rifled a wrist shot low, glove-side to open the scoring for the Wildcats. The tally was Juodikis’ first goal of her college hockey career.

It didn’t take long for the Terriers to respond. Just three and a half minutes later, senior forward Mackenna Parker collected a beautiful backhand feed from BU defender Nadia Mattivi and quickly wired one bar down to tie the score at one apiece.

Durocher praised Parker’s performance and her impact on the team.

“She had a tremendous game,” Durocher said. “Just really physical, really strong, fast. She did everything you could ask for, including scoring a goal.”

Parker and her linemates had a strong performance in Friday’s game, but Durocher’s fourth line, made up of two freshmen and a sophomore, struggled. Just under 14 minutes to go in the first period with the score tied at 1-1, BU’s fourth line let UNH defenseman Charli Kettyle rush the puck the entire length of the ice. Kettyle gained the red line, skated right through three Terriers fishing for the puck, and fed Juodikis with a back door pass for an easy tap-in goal.

Terrier goaltender Callie Shanahan made several critical saves to keep the score at 2-1 heading into the first intermission.

Just two minutes into the second period, junior forward Courtney Correia stole the puck from UNH forward Shea Verrier just inside the blue line. Correia skated to the left hashmark before firing a snapshot under the blocker of UNH goaltender Ava Boutilier to tie the score once again.

The Terriers took the lead on their second power play attempt of the game when junior forward Julia Nearis‘ centering pass ricocheted off the skate of UNH defenseman Annie Berry and into the net.

Durocher said that BU’s back-to-back power plays in the second period “changed the complexion of the game.” 

“We had zero turnovers on both power plays, and we got rewarded with a little bit of a funny angle, maybe a bank shot that Julia threw in to get us the lead 3-2,” Durocher said. 

In the final period, the Wildcats pushed the equalizer but could not solve Callie Shanahan. Senior Defenseman Alex Allen added an empty-net goal, just the second goal of her collegiate career, with 1:15 to go to seal the victory for the Terriers.

The two teams meet again at Walter Brown Arena on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Featured Image: BU senior forward Mackenna Parker skates with the puck during warmups prior to an exhibition with Holy Cross at Walter Brown Arena on Sept. 25, 2021. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.

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