Women’s Hockey: Terriers shut out in Battle of Comm. Ave

By Stevie Potter

Boston University Women’s Hockey (2-3-0, 1-2-0 HE) started their home-and-home series this weekend on the wrong foot, suffering a 3-0 shutout loss to their Commonwealth Avenue rivals, the Boston College Eagles (4-2-1, 3-0-0 HE), at Conte Forum Friday night.

Abigail Levy for the Eagles and Andrea Brändli for the Terriers, both the more experienced of their team’s goaltending duos, got the start in goal. Brändli carried a shutout streak of two games heading into Friday night’s contest.

BU Head Coach Brian Durocher had emphasized the importance of getting his team off to a strong start after last weekend’s split series against New Hampshire. Instead, BC dominated most of the play in the first period, sustaining much of the zone time in BU’s end and outshooting the Terriers 14-4.

10:18 into the game, BC junior forward Olivia O’Brien picked the puck off BU junior defender Tamara Giaquinto and scored off her own rebound in a one-woman effort against Brändli to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. For O’Brien, it was her second goal of the season and marked the end of Brändli’s two-game shutout streak.

With just over two minutes left to play in the first, BC’s O’Brien looked to have scored her second goal of the night, but the goal was waved off due to an early whistle and the period ended 1-0 in favor of BC.

The second period was a much stronger 20 minutes for BU offensively.

Terrier’s junior forward Catherine Foulem had the best scoring chance of the game for BU midway through the second period, attempting a backhander that Levy just got a piece of to keep the score at 1-0.

BU outshot BC 12-10 in the second period, but they were unable to tie the game with their increased offensive pressure. The total shots on goal after 40 minutes of play were 24-16 in favor of the Eagles.

Momentum shifted back into BC’s favor early in the third when they received an energy-boosting goal from sophomore forward Abby Newhook, who scored her fourth goal of the season 21 seconds in. Newhook took advantage of a messy defensive play in BU’s zone and put a shot on net that beat Brändli to make the score 2-0.

O’Brien put the exclamation point on the game with her second goal of the contest. After receiving a pass from senior forward Hannah Bilka, O’Brien got a shot past Brändi to make it 3-0 Eagles.

When the buzzer sounded to end the game, BC had outshot BU 34-29 and one the Battle on Comm. Ave 3-0. Levi stopped all 29 shots from BU, and Brändli made 31 saves on 34 shots in defeat.

BU will look to get their revenge on BC on Saturday, Oct. 22 at Walter Brown Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 3 pm, and BU is hosting a Taylor Swift theme night.