Women’s Hockey: Terriers Drop Third Straight Battle of Comm. Ave

By Michael Wax

Despite 36 shots on net and a goal from senior forward Haylee Blinkhorn, Boston University Women’s Hockey (10-17-3, 9-13-3 HE) fell 2-1 to the Boston College Eagles (18-12-1, 15-10-0 HE) in another edition of the Battle of Comm. Ave.

“Wonderful game and a super exciting crowd,” BU Head Coach Brian Durocher said. “I liked the way both teams skated, both teams competed. I thought it was a playoff game.”

With this win, the Eagles swept the season series with the Terriers, winning 3-0 on Oct. 21 and 5-4 on Oct. 22 along with their win in this one.

The Terriers came into this Battle of Comm. Ave without senior defender and captain Nadia Mattivi, her first missed game of the season. 

“She just woke up this morning and felt miserable and knew she wasn’t gonna be ready to go,” Durocher said. “She’s an honest competitor and somebody who’s going to try to go if she can.”

BC got the opening goal of the game with just over three minutes to play in the opening period. After a failed clear from the Terriers, BC freshman defender Cailin Flynn sent a shot toward the net that was blocked.

With Terrier graduate goaltender Andrea Brändli out of position, sophomore forward Abby Newhook put the puck between Brändli’s right arm and right leg to make it 1-0 BC with her 17th goal of the season.

BU and BC ended the period with the Eagles up 1-0 and holding a 10-7 shot advantage. The Terriers’ biggest triumph in the opening frame was their penalty kill, which saw Brändli make three important stops.

“I think we had pace, we had confidence and we had some pretty good puck movement,” Durocher said. “We use the expression ‘start on time,’ and that’s key. If you can have results, it makes the team better and that’s probably the one place we let ourselves down.”

BC extended their lead early in the period. After a BU power play that saw Eagles’ graduate goalie Abigail Levy make five big saves, the Terriers lost the ensuing face-off to give BC the puck. With a chance to clear, senior defender Alexie Guay pinched along the boards to keep the puck in BC’s offensive zone. Guay then released a seeing-eye shot that beat Brändli and doubled BC’s lead.

BU cut the Eagles’ lead in half with a big goal with under five minutes to go. With a 4-on-2 for BU, junior forward Lacey Martin gave the puck over to Blinkhorn. With time and space, Blinkhorn walked in and beat Levy over her right shoulder. Martin and sophomore defender Maggie Hanzel picked up the assists on Blinkhorn’s third of the year, all three of which have come against the Eagles. Hanzel’s assist was her first collegiate point in her 23rd career game.

BC took their 2-1 lead into intermission, but BU had the 24-19 shot advantage.

Despite a late push by the Terriers and a last-minute power play, the game ended with a final score of 2-1 in favor of the Eagles. Shots on net were 36-33 in favor of BU.

The Terriers will head back to Kelley Rink at Conte Forum, as they’ll take on the Harvard Crimson in the consolation game of the 2023 Beanpot. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m.