Women’s Hockey: Terriers complete sweep of Merrimack in OT

Featured Image: Claire Guest

By Alexa Podalsky

Boston University women’s hockey (2-2-1, 1-2 HE) once again finished off Merrimack College, 4-3 in overtime, (4-6-1, 1-4-1 HE), taking the Warriors down for the second straight afternoon.

The Terriers have not lost a game since October 7th, which can be attributed to the change in coaching. Tara Watchorn’s arrival has so far revived a program which had an 11-20-3 record last season.

“It’s a new energy. Everyone’s so excited,” Lacey Martin said. “[The coaching staff is] super supportive, super positive. I think we just feed off of them and it’s leading to success as a team.” 

From the first puck drop, the Terriers came out with energy, as they kept the puck in Merrimack’s third for most of the period and had their fair share of scoring opportunities. 

Both teams received a penalty in the first period. Merrimack received one for cross-checking and junior forward Ani Fitzgerald received one for hooking. Neither team was able to capitalize.

The Terriers’ first-period performance trumped their performance yesterday. They recorded four shots on goal and won six of nine faceoffs. 

Into the second frame, BU swarmed the net, sticks clashing and bodies colliding, all in a frantic effort to score within the first few minutes of the second period.

Merrimack graduate forward Celine Tedenby scored the first goal of the game off an assist from senior forward Emily Oosterveld. 

The Terriers evened the playing field a minute later. Sophomore forward Clara Yuhn and freshman forward Alex Law dished the puck to senior forward Lacey Martin who sent it clean into the back of the net. 

Graduate goaltender Alexa Matses recorded another save directly before BU called a timeout. Each time the players left their bench, they came onto the ice playing more aggressively than before. 

Sophomore forward Alex Ferguson tripped graduate student Nadia Mattivi and gave the Terriers their second power play. While in Merrimack’s third, senior defender Andi Calerone shot the puck into their circle where junior forward Christina Vote and Martin used pressure to score. 

Merrimack stole the puck at the start of the third period from BU to hold possession, though most of the action happened in the Warriors’ third. Bodies slammed into the board as the puck raced past Hogarth and into the stick of Foulem.

Matses was approached by Merrimack’s offensive line directly after both teams jumped back onto the ice. Matses turned away two shots before sophomore forward Sophie McKinley sunk the puck into the net. 

The game’s pace picked up with 12 minutes left of gameplay. The Terriers raced to Merrimack’s net and Law’s shot pushed Hogarth into the bottom right corner of the net. Martin collected the rebound and completed her first collegiate hat trick bringing the score to 3-2. 

The rest of the gameplay consisted of Boston’s defense working hard to protect their goal. Merrimack took Hogarth out of the goal in favor of another woman on the ice. 

Coming off the faceoff, the Terriers struggled to keep the puck out of their third. A minute remained and BU gained possession near Merrimack’s goal. They made multiple shots on goal, but with Merrimack heavily defending the goal, it went wide. 

The whistle blew with 21 seconds on the clock as both teams huddled up. BU crowded the goal as Merrimack had a handful of players surrounding the goal. With a swift push, Matses was overwhelmed with options and couldn’t keep the Warriors from scoring with five seconds left to send the game into overtime.

With just under two minutes gone in the extra frame, a Merrimack turnover left senior defenseman Tamara Giaquinto unguarded. From the top of the circle, she shot the puck into the lower right corner of the net and brought Merrimack’s losing streak to seven games. 

“It’s getting better every week,” Head Coach Tara Watchorn said. “We really found our identity and now it’s just making small tweaks and in growing and strategy.” 

BU now gear up to face the University of New Hampshire Wildcats on Friday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. at Walter Brown Arena. The game is available to stream on ESPN+.