Women’s Hockey: BU Embarks on Final Weekend of Regular Season
By Stevie Potter
The Boston University Women’s Ice hockey team (14-15-3, 12-12-1 HE) is set to take on the University of Connecticut Huskies (20-7-5, 17-4-4 HE) in its final regular season series. The first of the home-and-home games, Friday at Walter Brown Arena, will also feature BU’s Senior Night.
Friday’s matchup will also be the last game held at Walter Brown until at least January 2025, as the 53-year-old arena will undergo extensive renovations throughout the summer and fall.
The Terriers are coming off a six-point weekend with back-to-back wins against Merrimack College and the University of Vermont. While BU currently sits sixth in Hockey East, they can finish anywhere from the fifth to the seventh seed following this weekend’s events.
On the other hand, the Huskies suffered a shutout 3-0 loss against the University of Vermont this past weekend, but are currently sitting in Hockey East’s first-place slot. If the Huskies can earn even one point this weekend, they will secure the Hockey East regular season title.
Historically, BU is 31-16-9 against the Huskies. That being said, UConn’s recent success has made the Huskies a much tougher opponent. In their last 10 matchups, the Terriers are just 3-5-2 against UConn.
Earlier this season, BU and UConn faced off in a battle that resulted in a 5-3 Huskies victory on Jan. 13, 2024. However, junior goaltender Callie Shanahan did not play during that matchup. Shanahan had just returned to play following a long-term injury the night before (a 1-4 loss to New Hampshire) and graduate goaltender Alexa Matses started in between the pipes against the Huskies. Shanahan will likely start for the Terriers after coming off last weekend with a save percentage of .978, good for second in the nation.
Aside from the Terriers’ goaltender, another player to watch will be sophomore forward Clara Yuhn. Yuhn was just awarded the Hockey East Player of the Week honor for her four-point performance (2g, 2a) this past weekend. She is currently tied for second in points for the Terriers with senior forward Catherine Foulem. Yuhn currently has 22 points (9g, 13a) on the season, and as a member of the first line for the scarlet and white, will likely add a couple more to her total this weekend.
That being said, UConn has an offensive powerhouse of its own, senior forward Jada Habisch. Habisch currently has 24 points on the year (14g, 10a), including an assist against the Terriers from earlier this season. However, in her last seven games, UConn’s leading point scorer has only tallied one point. It will be imperative that BU keep her off the scoreboard if they would like to come out of this weekend with the fifth seed.
This weekend’s events will begin in Boston at Walter Brown Arena. Puck drop for Friday’s matchup will be at 6 p.m. On Saturday, both teams will close out their regular seasons in Storrs, CT at Toscano Family Ice Forum with a 3 p.m. game.