Women’s Hockey: BU struggles on Senior Night against UConn
Boston University women’s hockey (14-15-3, 12-12-1 HE) fell to the University of Connecticut Huskies (21-7-5, 18-4-4 HE) 4-0 in their final home game of the season on Friday night at Walter Brown Arena.
“I wish we had a few more points to our name coming out of this game, but the promising thing is there’s no doubt in my mind we can beat that team,” coach Tara Watchorn said.
Senior Day at Walter Brown Arena started off with neither team being able to organize offense. A lot of chances came off the rush, with UConn striking first on net on a 2-on-1. Luckily for the Terriers, Callie Shanahan was there to make the save.
BU got their first chance on net just under six minutes into the game from freshman forward Alex Law, but it was gloved down by UConn’s junior goaltender Tia Chan. Despite the shot not connecting with the goal, the Terriers’ play picked up after a taste of offense. They were more aggressive on the puck and racked up another three chances on net in short succession.
BU’s offensive dominance continued as the first period went on, and the Huskies struggled to get the puck out of their end and create chances on net. Contribution from all four lines kept BU in control of the game, and it got them closer and closer to scoring.
Unfortunately for BU, the Huskies would put one of their few chances on net to good use. Kyla Josifovic was all alone in front of the net with room to deke and send it past Shanahan, making the score 1-0 UConn with just 16 seconds left in the first.
Coming into the second period, UConn was back with offensive fire and put Shanahan to work. However, the Terriers came back into the game hungry for an equalizer, and the puck spent the start of the period back and forth between the ends.
The Huskies struck first, with junior forward Brianna Ware going down on one knee in front of the net to double UConn’s lead.
BU attempted more offense as the period went on, but only managed another shot on net and a couple chances gone wide. The Huskies continued to hold it down and crawl up on the Terriers in the shot count.
BU got the first crack at the power play with 5:17 left in the second, as senior forward Kathryn Stockdale headed to the box for the Huskies. The Terriers’ top unit managed to keep the puck in their offensive zone and get some shots off, but Chan lived up to her .941 save percentage this season and stood tall in front of the net.
Law would break away from the UConn defenders to get one last good look on net for the Terriers with 30 seconds to go, but Chan wouldn’t give up. It was 2-0 heading to the second intermission.
In the third, play evened out between teams and shots were exchanged back and forth. The count neared equal at 20-19 Terriers. Both teams were eager to put the puck in the net, which resulted in messy offense and chances coming off the rush.
BU would get its best chance of the night off a breakaway from Catherine Foulem. She streaked down the ice and attempted to send the puck over Chan’s right shoulder, but she gloved it down.
UConn would get the puck back under control and pull ahead in the shot count for the first time tonight, as they dominated play during the third. They’d eventually put another goal to make it 3-0, as senior forward Jada Habisch tapped in sophomore forward Brooke Campbell’s rebound.
“[We need to] make sure that we clean up a little bit of our changes and look to get more quality scoring chances,” Watchorn said. “They obviously have great goaltending and we had a lot of shots tonight, but not a lot of quality looks so we got to find ways to earn that tomorrow.”
The Terriers would pull their goalie Shanahan with about 2 ½ minutes left as a last ditch attempt to get some offense going. Unfortunately, shortly after she left the net the Huskies would send the puck flying into the empty net for a 4-0 score.
Next, BU heads down to Storrs, CT for their final game of the regular season at Toscano Family Ice Forum, with puck drop scheduled for 3 p.m. The game will stream on ESPN+.