Women’s Hockey: Terriers Fall 3-2 in OT to No. 12 Friars
By Michael Wax
Boston University Women’s Hockey (3-6-0, 2-5-0 HE) got a stellar performance from graduate goaltender Andrea Brändli but suffered a 3-2 OT loss at home to the No. 12 Providence College Friars (8-2-1, 5-1-1 HE).
Brändli stopped 42 of 45 shots from the Friars and earned the game’s first star despite the loss.
“Credit to the opponent,” BU Head Coach Brian Durocher said. “They had a good go of it. We’re gonna have to live with the one point tonight, and get ourselves ready for tomorrow.”
The Terriers made one lineup change heading into the game, as junior Ani Fitzgerald drew in for junior forward Clare O’Leary. BU also received a huge boost on the back end, as senior defender Nadia Mattivi stayed in the lineup after leaving last Saturday’s game early with an upper-body injury.
“She gave us good minutes tonight. Logged a lot of time and other than a light warm up yesterday, she really didn’t practice during the week,” Durocher said of Mattivi.
BU took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a highlight-reel goal from junior forward Catherine Foulem. After getting the puck in the neutral zone from sophomore forward Kylie Roberts, Foulem danced away through three different Friars as she charged up the ice, ultimately getting the puck past graduate goaltender Sandra Abstreiter for the game’s opening goal. That tally was Foulem’s first goal of the year, and Roberts picked up the only assist.
Despite the score being 1-0 BU after one period of play, Providence held the lead on the shot counter 17-4.
“I think what was very impressive was that Andrea found a way to find most of those pucks,” Durocher said. “She also grabbed some pucks that looked awful dangerous, but she had a way to use her glove and control it and set us up for a face off.”
The second period saw a much tighter game, as shots were 12-6 in favor of Providence. Much of the play took place in the neutral zone, with neither team getting extended offensive zone time at 5-on-5. The Terriers were able to kill off two penalties, with Brändli making a few fantastic saves.
Providence tied the game a little more than two minutes into the third period. After Mattivi took a roughing call, BU’s fourth penalty of the game, Providence was able to cycle the puck around BU’s zone. A pass into the slot from junior forward Rachel Weiss bounced off a couple of bodies before landing on the stick of graduate defender Ida Press, who fired home the tying goal, her first of the season.
Just a minute and a half later, the Friars took the lead. BU had a chance at their end of the ice, but Providence quickly went the other way and got the puck deep in the Terriers’ zone. Mattivi attempted to give the puck to freshman defender Maeve Kelly, but graduate forward Sara Hjalmarsson intercepted the pass. Hjalmarsson backhanded a pass right into the slot, where graduate forward Noemi Neubauerova fired home a one-timer. Neubauerova picked up her third goal of the year, assisted by Hjalmarsson.
Durocher challenged the play for a missed stoppage, as several Terriers on the ice thought they had scored before the Providence goal.
“A couple of kids thought it went in because they didn’t hear the post and they thought it might have caught just the netting or even the center back post,” Durocher said. “The overhead just showed it hit the crossbar, and that’s where it ended.”
After taking four consecutive penalties, BU earned back-to-back calls with under seven minutes to play. Providence junior forward Lindsay Bochna was sent off for tripping, and junior defender KC Brooks took a delay-of-game penalty just 43 seconds in. BU won the face-off, and Mattivi got the puck to junior forward Lacey Martin, who fired home a shot from just beyond the left circle past the glove of Abstreiter.
In overtime, the Terriers had a golden opportunity to end the game on a 2-on-1. After they failed to get a shot off, Bochna took the loose puck and sent a stretch pass to Hjalmarsson, who beat Brändli on the backhand to give Providence the 3-2 OT win.
The Terriers will look to regroup on Saturday when they travel to Schneider Arena to rematch Providence. Puck drop is scheduled for 3 p.m.