Women’s Hockey: Terriers drop first battle of Comm. Ave in Overtime, 3-2

Featured image by Elyse Paugh

By Lydia Murray

All good things must come to an end eventually, including a nine-game unbeaten streak.

No.14 Boston University Women’s Ice Hockey (9-4-1, 7-2-1 HE) fell to the No. 11 Boston College Eagles (9-3-0, 6-1-0 HE), 3-2 in overtime on Friday night.

“Not the outcome we wanted, but [we] played a good hockey game against a good team,” coach Tara Watchorn said. “I like how we responded after coming out a bit slow, [we] got some momentum in the second, carried a lot of play in the third and obviously not the OT we wanted.”

Despite the loss, BU women’s hockey history was made at Agganis Arena. 2,866 fans turned out to witness the first edition of this season’s Battle of Comm. Ave, smashing the previous home game record of 1,891, set back in 2012.

“Really cool,” Watchorn said of breaking the record. “I actually caught it out of the corner of my eye on the jumbotron when they put the attendance up there. We heard rumblings all week and really, really cool to see it come to fruition. The Dog Pound, the band in full force, shout out to them, and I think it shows that our sport’s growing, women’s sports, hockey is the sport on campus and people are gonna come out to support us so we’re grateful, it was awesome.”

The Terriers got off to a bad start. Just 5:35 in, two BU players failed to cover BC’s Kate Hamm, who was streaking towards the net. Forward Alanna Devlin sent a slick behind-the-net feed her way, and Ham deeked it through senior goaltender Callie Shanahan to make it 1-0 Eagles.

Things didn’t get any better for the Terriers over the next several minutes, which saw them take two penalties and allow BC to get several quality chances en route to a 7-1 shot advantage. Luckily for BU, Shanahan was up to the task.

The Terriers rallied in the back half of the period with a few quality looks, but it wasn’t enough to crack Eagles goaltender Grace Campbell. So, the first period expired with the BC leading 1-0 and outshooting BU 11-6.

Whatever the message was in the locker room between periods, it worked. The Terriers came out flying to start the second and got a power play just 21 seconds in to show for it. Fifty-six seconds later, Sydney Healey sent a bullet in from the top of the circle, which deflected off an Eagle stick and past Campbell to tie the game.

That particular tie score would not last long. Another case of missed coverage resulted in BC retaking the lead exactly one minute later. However, the Terriers didn’t wait long to answer again. Ninety-five seconds later, Julia Shaunessey retied the game at two with a laser from a near-identical spot to Healey’s goal. 

BU continued to control play for most of the period. By the 13-minute mark, they were outshooting the Eagles 14-13.

BC picked it up late in the period and made Shanahan come up with a few huge saves after she saw just two shots in the first 14 minutes. But she stood tall, allowing the Terriers to return to the locker room with a 19-17 shot advantage and a tied game.

BU dominated at the start of the third as well. The Eagles didn’t manage a shot on goal until 5:59, at which point the Terriers were outshooting them 7-1. However, that shot nearly solved Shanahan, popping up and over her before a defender swiped it away.

The Terriers kept the pressure up and controlled play for most of the period, but BC again picked it up in the final six minutes. They almost managed to squeak one past Shanahan with about a minute remaining, but she kept it out. 

So, while holding a 31-24 shot edge over the Eagles, the Terriers headed to overtime for the second straight game.

Just 1:16 into the extra frame, Julia Pellerin walked around a BU defender and beat Shanahan five-hole to extend the Eagles’ win streak to eight games and send the Terriers home disappointed.

With less than 24 hours before the teams hit the ice tomorrow at BC, Watchorn said she told her team to let it sting for a moment and then focus on the task at hand tomorrow.

“Let it suck for the next few minutes and we’ll regroup,” Watchorn said. “I think it’s never a bad thing to feel a loss. It’s never fun, especially when you’re a good team and arguably should’ve won that game. But, let it sting for a minute and regroup and focus on how we’re gonna rebound tomorrow and go from there.”

The Terriers are back in action tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. when the Battle of Comm. Ave hits BC’s Conte Forum. The game will be broadcast on NESN regionally and ESPN+ nationally.