Women’s Hockey: Shanahan’s 53 saves not enough in loss to Northeastern
By Patrick Donnelly
BOSTON — Freshman goaltender Callie Shanahan made 53 saves, but the Boston University Terriers fell to the No. 3 Northeastern University Huskies 6-3 at Matthews Arena on Friday.
Graduate forward Maddie Mills had two goals and an assist, and senior forward Maureen Murphy had a goal and two assists for Northeastern (21-2-1, 16-2-1 HE). Five Huskies skaters had multi-point efforts. Graduate goaltender Aerin Frankel allowed three goals on five shots in the first period, and junior goaltender Gwyneth Philips stopped all 11 shots she faced in relief.
Senior captain Kaleigh Donnelly, senior forward Courtney Correia and sophomore forward Catherine Foulem scored for the Terriers (9-9-4, 8-6-3 HE). Shanahan allowed five goals on 58 shots as Northeastern also notched empty net goal.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t quite hold it together at the end,” BU head coach Brian Durocher said. “I give a lot of credit to our opponent because they controlled the play with shots on goal. But we had ourselves in a situation where we had opportunities, and in the end, we couldn’t shut down their power play.
“We can’t come out of a game at [59 shots to 19] and convince ourselves we played a good game. There’s too much that we have to control a little more of, and not sort of fade or drift.”
Correia scored 28 seconds into the game to give BU a 1-0 lead with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle over Frankel’s shoulder.
Foulem made it 2-0 47 seconds later, scoring on a rebound after Frankel saved junior forward Julia Nearis’ shot.
Aurard got Northeastern on the board at 14:51 of the first, redirecting Murphy’s shot from the point on the power play.
Donnelly restored the Terriers’ two-goal cushion with 1:14 remaining in the first with a wrist shot to the top right corner after Northeastern turned it over.
Northeastern graduate captain Brooke Hobson pulled the Huskies within one at 10:46 of the second with a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle.
Mills tied it 3-3 on the power play at 14:13 of the third, and junior forward Katy Knoll made it 4-3 1:13 later.
Murphy added insurance with an empty-net goal at 18:52, and Mills scored her second of the game with 12.7 seconds remaining in regulation.
Shanahan’s 53 saves were the most of any BU goaltender since Erin O’Neil made 54 against Northeastern in the 2016 Hockey East semifinals.
“It’s a weird game cause she did play extremely well, but I feel like we sort of let her down,” Durocher said. “You look at the number of goals that go in, and that doesn’t help anybody or help the team. We’re trying to find ways to win. We’re trying to ffind ways to coach better. We’re trying to find ways to make sure the kids know we believe in them.
“But we have to get some good fortune. We have to get some success. I thought we gave ourselves a chance in that third period, and then things finished in exactly the wrong way.”
BU is winless in five straight games and has now lost three in a row. Durocher said it will be tough for the Terriers to put the loss behind them quickly since they do not return to action next until next Friday.
“We’ve had an unfortunate run here of losses, and we want to get the taste of a win,” Durocher said. “It is bitter and sour. For the most part this team continues to fight. They continue to scrap. Again, we’ve got to get some good fortune. The only way to do that is to close and get a win.”
BU will look to find the win column again on Jan. 28 when they travel to Holy Cross for a 6 p.m. matchup with the Crusaders before hosting Boston College at 6 p.m. on Jan. 29.
Featured Image by Patrick Donnelly