Women’s Hockey: Terriers complete series sweep over Holy Cross, recording a 3-0 shutout in the process

By Alexa Podalsky

Not even a shutout Beanpot loss can hold the Terriers back. 

Six days after Northeastern denied Boston University (15-8-1, 12-4-1 HE) their second consecutive trophy, the Terriers have proven why they still deserve the top spot in the Hockey East standings. 

“It was obviously hard for us, but I think we really realized that there’s more than just that game,” captain Tamara Giaquinto said. 

After defeating the Holy Cross Crusaders (7-14-3, 3-12-3 HE) on Friday night, the Terriers finished the job the next day by outshooting their opponent 37-15 for a 3-0 penalty-ridden win. 

Holy Cross’s Madison Michals got called on early for elbowing, giving BU a jumpstart on the power play five minutes into the game. The two minutes came and went, with only junior Clara Yuhn able to take a shot, but the Terriers held onto their dominance. 

Holy Cross struggled to gain traction until 11 minutes into the first period. Their hot streak, which included a few shots on goal, went cold three minutes later when Emma Min was flagged for interference. 

The Terriers would prove that the second time was the charm when captain Tamara Giaquinto rallied the defense to score on the power play and made way for the offense to follow suit. Assistant Captain Maggie Hanzel and Keira Healy exchanged the puck before Hanzel passed it to Qiaquinto to score.

Less than two minutes later, Clara Yuhn kept the energy in the newly renovated Walter Brown arena high and scored off Alex Law’s assist to end the period with a 2-0 lead. 

Holy Cross entered the second period with a vengeance but struggled to cross the blue line to make a play. Even when Luisa Welcke got sent to the penalty box for hooking, BU’s 89.9% penalty kill shut down every opportunity the Crusaders took. 

BU closed out the second period, switching from power play to penalty kill. Lindsay Bochna scored for the team’s second power-play goal, which cued a Terrier parade to the penalty box. 

Lilli Welcke was the first to go on an interference call, followed by Alex Law and Holy Cross’s Reghan Chadwick for roughing, and completed by Ani Fitzgerald for slashing. But despite playing four minutes down a player, the Terriers never lost their dominance and limited Holy Cross to two shots. 

“To be frank, I don’t think we really deserved a good chunk of [the penalties],” Coach Tara Watchorn said. “A couple [of them] we deserved, but I think we just play strong.” 

By the third period, there was little BU could have done to lose their three-goal lead despite collecting three more penalties in the latter half, including one with six seconds remaining. 

Watchorn contributed the team’s eight penalty kills to sophomore goalkeeper Mari Pietersen and the Welcke twins getting reunited on the third line. 

“It starts with your best penalty killer, which has to be your goalie,” Watchorn said. “It was nice to have the Welckes back together and [Bochna] out there too.”

As the final seconds ticked away, the Terriers ended their season series against the Crusaders with a three-goal shutout, the same way it started on Jan. 3. For Giaquinto, the win was even more exciting as it marked a new era of the Walter Brown Arena. 

“This whole entire year has just been super exciting for us,” Giaquinto said. “I think we’re really proud of all the progress that we’ve been able to make, and we want to stay in the locker room in this rink for as long as possible during the playoffs.” 

The Terriers move on to host Boston College on Friday at 6 p.m. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.