Women’s Hockey: No. 13 Terriers enter break on high note with 3-1 win over Maine
Featured image by Kota Tsukada
By Lydia Murray
The No. 13 Boston University Women’s Ice Hockey (10-5-1, 8-2-1 HE) made the long trek up to Orono, ME, where they defeated the University of Maine Black Bears (3-15-0, 3-9-0 HE), 3-1, in their final game of the semester Friday night. The win secured the Terriers a 3-0 series sweep over Maine for the season.
“Good team road win at Maine,” BU assistant coach Megan Myers said. “Good team effort. We got tested on special teams, finally got a power play goal, and ultimately Callie [Shanahan] did a great job keeping us in the game. So, it was all around a good team effort.”
The first period was largely uneventful. Maine started fast, with three shots in the first minute and a half, but BU soon picked up the pace. The teams played evenly for most of the period, with each landing 12 shots on goal but neither getting many dangerous looks.
Both teams erased the goose egg from their score in the second period. The Terriers had a strong start to the period but couldn’t solve Maine netminder Kiia Lahtinen until their second power play. After some good puck movement, captain Tamara Giaquinto ripped a slapshot on goal, which eeked under Lahtinen’s arm and in. It was Giaquinto’s fourth goal of the season and first since October 19, another power-play goal against the Black Bears.
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Two minutes later, Maine got a power play, and they forced BU goaltender Callie Shanahan to make three big saves around the midway point. However, about 30 seconds later, a brutal Terrier change allowed Black Bear defender Kendall Sundby to walk in and laser a shot past Shanahan to tie the game at one.
https://x.com/MaineWHockey/status/1865192050519609524
The Terriers have been reluctant to get to the dirty areas to score at times this season, but both goals today came via point shots and netfront chaos.
“We’ve been working on it in practice,” Myers said. “We talk about it all the time, about getting rebound goals, dirty goals netfront, I feel like we score a lot of pretty goals. So, it was cool that those goals were us just getting netfront and being able to put our bodies on the line and get in front of the goalie’s eyes. It was awesome to see Riley and Tam get that one.”
The rest of the period passed without much excitement, so the teams headed into the final frame tied at one, with BU holding a 23-19 shot advantage.
After another solid start from the Terriers, Maeve Carey wired a shot toward the goal over seven and a half minutes in. Riley Walsh made an excellent tip out front to fool Lahtinen and retake the lead for BU. Maine challenged it for a high stick, but the call on the ice stood.
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A few minutes later, the Black Bears almost tied it again during a flurry of chances, but Shanahan stood tall for the Terriers. BU also got numerous good chances over the next several minutes, but Lahtinen stayed strong for Maine.
Finally, a Luisa Welcke body-checking penalty sent the Black Bears to the advantage with three minutes remaining, which they made a 6-on-4 less than a minute later when they pulled Lahtinen. However, instead of Maine tying it, graduate Terrier forward Lindsey Bochna took the puck down and potted it into the empty net to make it 3-1.
The win concludes an outstanding first semester for the Terriers that surpassed the coaching staff’s expectations.
“If you had asked me at the beginning of the year if we’d be, I think we’re 9-2-1 in Hockey East, I mean I would’ve been hopeful but I wouldn’t have been promising it,” Myers said. “Hockey East is a tough conference to play in and so we’re super excited. We’re grateful for this group, we acknowledged in the locker room after [that] we’re so excited for where this group is gonna go, the camaraderie and the togetherness that this team already has, is so fun to watch. So, we’re excited to go into the second semester with a win and keep it rolling.”
BU is now off for nearly a month. Next up, they’ll travel to Holy Cross for a 6 p.m. divisional matchup on January 3, 2025. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.