Women’s Hockey: Terriers Offense Dries Up in 3-1 Loss to Union

By Michael Wax

The Boston University women’s ice hockey team (1-1-0) fell 3-1 against Union College (3-3-0) on Saturday night, marking the first Union victory against BU in program history.

“I’ll tip our cap to the Union to start,” BU head coach Brian Durocher said. “Our best hockey was when we had to play out of desperation. I’m disappointed we weren’t more ready to play right out of the gate.”

The goaltenders for both sides had big nights, as Union sophomore Sophie Matsoukas and BU sophomore Callie Shanahan each made big saves to keep the game close.

“Callie did a nice job,” Durocher said. “She made a big save in the first that was on a breakaway late in the period, it could have made it that much tougher.”

BU and Union traded goals early in the first period, a marked change of pace after the Terriers started their Friday game against RPI with 40 minutes of scoreless play. Senior forward Carmen Merlo registered the first goal of the game for Union, capitalizing on chaos in front of the Terriers’ next to break the scoreless tie.

Merlo led the way for Union, registering the first goal of the game and adding a secondary assist to the game-winning goal.

BU tied the game less than three minutes later when senior captain Nadia Mattivi followed her rebound and wrapped the puck around the back of the net before shooting into a wide-open cage after Matsoukas collided with a Union defender and couldn’t get back in time to make the save.

The tie didn’t last long, however, as sophomore defender Emma Hebert put Union out in front on a power play tally less than four minutes later.

After the 2-1 goal, BU and Union stayed deadlocked for the better part of 30 minutes, with both teams’ netminders making big saves. One of those saves came early in the third when Matsoukas slid across to deny grad student forward Jesse Devito the tying goal.

“She made a nine-bell save right there,” Durocher said.

BU’s 2-1 deficit turned into a 3-1 deficit with just under five minutes to play, as freshman forward Clara Yuhn turned the puck over in the defensive zone, and sophomore forward Ashley Adams put the puck past Shanahan to double the lead.

“You learn on the fly sometimes,” Durocher said. “We’re all going to make mistakes, freshmen and seniors. But, you know, that might have been a product of her trying too hard. She’s an ultra-competitive kid and she wants to succeed.”

Even after leading the game in shots on goal 38-35, Durocher believed the type of shots they took could’ve been better.

“We didn’t seem to shoot with a purpose or shoot with a ‘shoot to score’ mentality,” Durocher said. “I think [Matsoukas] was strong on a couple of scramble-type situations. We probably didn’t quite screen her enough, maybe a handful too many on the glove because I remember a lot jumping in her glove.”  

The Terriers will head on the road to face the University of New Hampshire on Friday, October 14, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.