Women’s Hockey: Battle of Comm. Ave commences as BU takes on BC in weekend series

Featured image by Elyse Paugh

By Abigail Stocker

No. 14 Boston University women’s hockey (9-3-1, 7-1-1 HE) prepares for the battle of Comm. Ave. this weekend in a home-and-home series against No. 11 Boston College (8-3-0, 5-1-0 HE).

The historic rivals are scheduled to face each other on Nov. 15 at Agganis Arena and Nov. 16 on the Eagles’ turf at Conte Forum.

“We’re doing something right, you know, and we’ve created a little bit of bandwidth here to continue to try things,” coach Tara Watchorn said.

Last weekend, the Terriers faced Merrimack University in a home-and-home series game. BU took home a win on Nov. 7 and earned a shootout win against the Warriors on Nov. 8.

Watchorn reflected on last weekend’s Merrimack game, where BU didn’t walk away with a win, but a tie and shootout win, despite the Terriers’ dominance over Merrimack.

“It was good to have that test,” Watchorn said of last weekend’s game. “To be able to still come away with a tie and a shootout win is a testament to our group.”

The Terries have a 25-38-8 all-time record against BC, with BU winning their last matchup in February 2024 against the Eagles. However, BC has tilted the ice in the past few years, winning six of the last eight games.

This season, on paper, the Terriers and the Eagles present as virtually evenly matched teams, making the game a competitive matchup.

“It’s just talking about, okay, these are our strengths, and specifically these ones are really going to match up well against this team, so how do we just make sure we take pride in those [things]?” Watchorn said about taking on a similar caliber team.

BU’s defense continues to work hard this season, as the d-core has helped sustain the team’s success.

“[The defense] moves the puck, they’re hard to play against, they shut down the neutral zone and they all have a little bit of a subtly different style, but so impactful,” Watchorn said.

The Terriers look to utilize their strong defense this weekend while continuing to hold offensive pressure on the Eagles as one of their approaches to the upcoming rivalry game.

“BC definitely has firepower, and if you make mistakes and give them chances off the rush, they’re probably going to make you pay for it. Making them have to earn their goals, and not giving it to them, I think is going to be the focus,” Watchorn said.

The weekend series is set for a 6 p.m. puck drop on Nov. 15, followed by a 4:30 p.m. start time on Nov. 16. Both games will be available to stream on ESPN+.