Women’s Hockey: Terriers drop third straight game with first loss ever to Holy Cross

By Bobby Serafin

WORCESTER, Mass. — It’s official. BU is in a slump. Last night the Terriers (5-4-3, 4-3-3 HE) fell to basement-dweller Holy Cross (2-10-0, 1-7-0 H.E) by a final of 2-0.

The Terriers have now gone scoreless for the last 122 minutes of play and have pushed their current losing streak to three games. The Crusaders with the win last night picked up their first win against BU in program history, losing the previous six matchups by a combined score of 31-7. 

In the first game of this home-and-home series, the Terriers looked to right the wrongs of last weekend’s sweep against UConn, while Holy Cross came in riding a six-game skid, leaving them little hope for a successful season. The first period showed that, with BU outshooting the Crusaders 9-4, hoping to strike first. Holy Cross goaltender Madison Beck was able to push aside anything the Terriers had to offer, oftentimes cutting off the angles to make herself much bigger than her 5-foot-3 frame suggests. 

There was only one power play in the opening period, with BU failing to cash in. This continues the increasingly frustrating theme of Terrier struggles on the power play. The stretch of failure on the advantage has now reached six games. Despite this continued dry spell, the power play retained possession extremely well in this game and managed five shots and a plethora of good looks on Beck. 

Through the period, the balance of play was in the Terriers’ favor, but sloppiness in their own end combined with poor transitional play in the neutral zone signaled some warning signs for the rest of the game. 

Getting the first goal has been extremely crucial to BU, with them being undefeated when leading after the first period as well as leading after the second period. The Terriers were unable to grab the first go, with Holy Cross grabbing the opening tally 8:59 into the second. 

It started with some crisp passing between the Crusaders’ forwards in the attacking zone, which led to a whiffed shot from the slot that fell right to Darci Johal, who finished for her fourth goal of the season. The junior leads the Crusaders in goals, and this one was assisted by Lilly Feeney and Emilie Fortunato, the latter contributing on both Holy Cross goals. 

In terms of game play, the Crusaders had a slight edge in shots at 10-7, putting more pressure on BU senior goaltender Kate Stuart, who was once again solid for the Terriers despite the defeat. The second frame was full of momentum switches, which were caused by the power play. Both sides earned two chances, with neither finding the back of the net. The BU penalty kill, in opposition to their own power play, was stellar. They stopped all four of Holy Cross’s chances on the 5-on-4, giving up only two shots. 

BU, looking to salvage this game, came out strong in the third and played their best period of hockey during this drop in form. They tallied a whopping 13 shots compared to the Crusaders’ six. However, they were unable to open their account in this game as Holy Cross shut the door, giving Beck her first career shutout and win. 

The Nova Scotia native stopped all 29 Terrier shots, which may lead to her earning more starts in net going forward. The Crusaders added one more tally early in the third from Sommer Ross, who tipped a long shot from the point. With plenty of bodies in front of the crease there was little Stuart could do. 

As the game approached its end, the energy seemed to dip as well as the amount of scoring chances. The Crusaders’ celebration marked a low point in the Terriers’ season as they continue to lose ground in a very competitive Hockey East.

The Terriers will get another shot at Holy Cross tonight as the teams return to Walter Brown Arena for a 7 p.m. showdown. 

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