Women’s Hockey: BU defeats Holy Cross 2-1 in a goaltending battle
By Justin Davids
Looking to start the weekend off strong, Boston University Women’s Hockey (7-8-2, 5-6-1 HE) took down the Holy Cross Crusaders (5-11-2, 2-8-2 HE) 2-1 at Walter Brown Arena.
“It’s a good one for morale, good win for our group to kind of pull off tight games like this,” said assistant coach Megan Myers.
Just three minutes into the Turnpike Trophy contest, BU junior forward Ani FitzGerald ripped one from the top of the point to give the Terriers an early lead. FitzGerald’s goal marks her first of the season, as well as her first as a Terrier.
“It was pretty awesome, I’m not going to lie. I felt like I got a hug from everyone on the team and we’re just so supportive of each other and I’m really glad it was here on home ice,” said FitzGerald.
After the first 10 minutes of action being heavily dominated by the Terriers, the Crusaders were able to draw a hooking penalty called on BU sophomore forward Lilli Welcke.
Even though Holy Cross wasn’t able to generate any quality scoring chances on the man-advantage, BU freshman forward Alex Law took a cross-checking penalty to give the Crusaders another opportunity to tie the game.
The Crusaders’ second man-advantage was squandered after BU senior forward Catherine Foulem was tripped carrying the puck into the offensive zone.
Shortly after the game returned to even strength, Holy Cross freshman forward Reghan Chadwick took a cross-checking minor to give BU their first full two minute man-advantage of the night.
The Terriers were able to acquire a few opportunities, but HC sophomore goaltender Brooke Loranger stood tall and prevented BU from gaining the insurance goal.
The first ten minutes of the second stanza was pretty quiet, until BU captain Nadia Mattivi took a roughing penalty to give the Crusaders their third man-advantage of the night.
Once again, Holy Cross came up empty on the power-play, keeping the game 1-0 Terriers with about eight minutes remaining in the second period.
Through the first forty minutes of play, the Crusaders netminder could be credited with the most outstanding performance thus far, only allowing one goal on 32 shots. BU looked to break Loranger’s hot streak in the final frame.
Around the midway point of the final period, the Crusaders finally got on the score sheet with Holy Cross junior forward Madison Michaels cashing in on a juicy rebound.
Two minutes after the goal, BU’s Lilli Welke and Crusaders senior defenseman Vaia Graves each were assessed a roughing minor to put the game 4-on-4.
With 15 seconds left on the 4-on-4, Holy Cross junior defenseman Elliot Carmen took a tripping penalty to give the Terriers a man up.
BU’s struggling power-play finally broke free with Terriers sophomore forward Luisa Welcke burying a big rebound given up by Lorange.
The Crusaders weren’t able to tie the game up late to force an overtime period, giving the Terriers a much needed win heading into a big matchup on Saturday against the Providence Friars.
Boston University Women’s Hockey will look to get their second win of the weekend tomorrow, December 9th at 3PM against the Friars. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+