Women’s Hockey: Terriers take shootout after 1-1 draw with UVM

By Bobby Serafin

With Halloweekend just underway, a Friday night Hockey East matchup produced a scary tight battle against two closely ranked opponents, with the Boston University Terriers (4-1-2, 3-0-2 HE), who have produced the most goals in Hockey East (25), taking on one of the stingiest teams in the conference in the Vermont Catamounts (2-0-0 HE). 

Walter Brown Arena was treated to another extra time thriller as the game ended in a 1-1 draw, but this time the home Terriers came out on top in a shootout. This result ends a two-game win streak for the Catamounts. The huge two-point effort now moves BU into second place in the Hockey East standings.

The first period saw a lopsided rink in Vermont’s favor, with the Catamounts outshooting the Terriers 6-1. While there weren’t many shots that eventually turned to chances for each school, the goalies were more than up to the task. 

After the goalies stalled the offense for the opening half of the period, the deadlock was broken at 11:07. The puck fell to UVM forward Maude Poulin-Labelle, who snapped a quick shot deep in BU territory to beat senior goaltender Kate Stuart to light the lamp for the Catamounts. 

This was the senior defenseman’s first tally of the season and represented a common theme of the UVM defense jumping into the attack. The period had dips in momentum, but not many shifts to one side, with zero power play chances for either team. 

“[Stuart] kept getting better as the game went along,” BU coach Brian Durocher said about his star goalie’s tremendous performance. 

“We cycled it back in our zone a lot instead of quick breakouts and now you’ve got 65 feet to get out”, Durocher said. 

This led to tired legs for the Terriers, who seemed to be a step slow for a large portion of the game. 

“A lot of the game, they were a step better in execution. We were on our heels defensively,” Durocher said.

In the second, UVM continued to throw shots on Stuart, who ended up facing 24 shots on the night, but for this period, as well as the rest of the game, the senior was dominant. The Terriers relied on the goaltender to provide the leadership while they were failing to create chances for themselves.

Her counterpart, however, was just as effective. Blanka Škodovà, who recently took home Hockey East’s Goalie of the Week, stopped BU’s efforts. Each team had one 5-on-4 in the second, but neither were able to cash in. Failure to execute on the advantage has plagued the Terriers as of late, failing to capitalize in their last three games. 

That’ll be one aspect that will hopefully be addressed thoroughly during practice this upcoming week. Despite the tying goal, Durocher was pleased with how his group came out in the second. 

“If we’re not putting it past an all-star level goalie, that’s not the end of the world. I liked the way we responded by stringing multiple passes in a row,” he said.

BU’s increased forecheck continued into third, as the skaters upped their tempo and put immense pressure on the UVM defense. The Catamounts’ lead evaporated four minutes into the third when senior Emma Wuthrich took the puck behind Škodovà’s net and finished a crisp wrap-around to tie the game at one apiece. The assists on the goal went to Shaunessy and Blinkhorn.

The Terriers really found their game in the third, posting six shots, but UVM still had the shot advantage 7-6. The face offs were also in the Catamounts’ favor, winning that matchup 20-18. There was one late penalty, resulting from a Julia Shaunessy holding call, but the Catamounts were held at bay, finishing 0-for-2 on the power play for the night, while BU missed on their lone opportunity. 

After sixty minutes the game was still knotted up at one. During OT, chances were plenty, with UVM having multiple breakaways, but as previously stated, Stuart was phenomenal. 

As the game seemed to increase in intensity, so did her play. BU had a few chances of their own as skaters such as Courtney Correia and Shaunessy, who used their speed to create quality looks for the Terriers. As the clock hit zero, BU fans feared the worst, as the team had lost their last two shootouts dating back from the last few weeks.

With an extra point on the line, Durocher went to a reliable source for the first shooter: Correia. The Terriers’ leading scorer made no mistake and slotted a snapshot far side to put BU ahead. 

“We’ve obviously gone to Courtney Correia like we did tonight, and she beat the goalie to the right and we will continue to use her,” Durocher said.

The rest of shootout was owned by the goalies with Škodovà stopping the remaining two BU shooters, but the hero was once again Stuart. She stopped all three of the attempts from UVM including a flashy save on the last shot of the night, which elated the BU bench and sent them onto the ice to celebrate. 

The Terriers return to action on Sunday, Oct. 31, in a road tilt against the Providence College Friars. Puck drops at 3 p.m.

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