Women’s Hockey: Six Different Goal Scorers Lift BU Past UVM

By Miranda Lemus

Boston University Women’s Hockey (10-10-1, 8-8-1 HE) was in vintage form during Friday night’s tilt against the University of Vermont Catamounts (9-13-0, 7-9-0 HE). The decisive 6-1 win shows just how dominant the Terriers can be when they play up to their full potential.

“[BU] played a phenomenal game honestly. All around, offense, defense, upgrading the pucks, everything we’ve been talking about… Probably could have had a few more honestly,” said BU Assistant Coach Reagan Rust. 

Wasting no time getting the scoring started for the Terries was junior forward Ani FitzGerald. Scoring her second goal of the season, Fitzgerald stole the puck from the Catamounts as they attempted to break out of their defensive zone, leading to a 2-on-1 chance for BU. FitzGerald looked off her teammate, senior captain Madison Cardaci, and buried the puck short-side to make it 1-0 Terriers with 18 minutes remaining in the first frame. 

Doubling the Terrier’s scoring total would be none other than senior assistant captain Catherine Foulem. While Foulem’s goal was nothing short of highlight reel worthy, the primary assist alone could have also landed on a highlight tape. Freshman forward Alex Law’s nifty drop pass between both Catamount defensemen opened up a lane for Foulem to go through the UVM blueliners and roof the puck past Vermont senior goaltender Jesse McPherson. 

Nearing the end of the first frame, the Terriers led 2-0 and had 10 seconds to capitalize on a power play drawn by sophomore forward Luise Welke before the buzzer sounded. The penalty was awarded to UVM graduate defenseman Sara Levesque for body checking. 

With what seemed like inadequate time to set up the power play, the Terriers continued their dominance with a tipped-in-front goal from sophomore forward Clara Yuhn with only one second left in the first frame. The goal sent BU back to the locker room with a 3-0 lead. 

Eight minutes into the second period, sophomore forward Sydney Healey also earned a tipped-in-front goal to put the Terriers up 4-0. Both Yuhn and Healey’s tipped goals were from graduate captain Nadia Mativvi, bringing her assist total to two in the game. 

Next, inevitably finding her name on the scoresheet was senior assistant captain and BU point leader Lacey Martin. On an impressive diving feed from freshman forward Ella Huntley, Martin’s goal was gifted to her on a silver platter. 5-0 Terriers with 20 minutes left in regulation. 

The lone defenseman credited with a goal was Maggie Hanzel who put the Terriers up 6-0 seven minutes into the final frame. Hanzel’s post-and-in goal was helped by UVM freshman forward Ezra Oien, who deflected the puck past her own goaltender. 

“I hope everyone keeps scoring, that would be great,” said Rust jokingly, “The girls are really buzzing right now, so it’ll be good to see it tomorrow.”

As time ticked down in this one-sided matchup, a shutout for junior goaltender Callie Shanahan looked like the only way to end this game off with a bang. Spoiling Shanahan’s potential perfect night was sophomore forward Lara Beecher who scored with 46 seconds left. Nonetheless the Terriers came out with a huge 6-1 win.

“I think that it was a complete team win. I think that we all did our jobs and every line was rolling, everyone was playing good hockey, working really hard, we were sticking to our habits, and just doing everything we needed to do to dominate in all three zones,” said Yuhn. 

The Terriers are back on Saturday afternoon for their second game against UVM at Walter Brown Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 3 pm and is available to stream on ESPN+.