Women’s Hockey: Terriers fumble Hockey East regular season title, falling 3-1 to UConn

Featured image by Holly Gustavsen

By Hannah Connors

No. 12 Boston University Women’s Ice Hockey (21-11-2, 18-7-2 HE) fell to the University of Connecticut Huskies (21-11-2, 19-6-2 HE) 3-1 losing the regular Hockey East title on senior night. 

“I think we did exactly what we needed to do,” Coach Tara Watchorn said. “And the next time we see them, it’ll be a different outcome.”

Despite the score, the Terriers largely outperformed the Huskies, outshooting them 34-21, and maintaining consistent offensive possession throughout the whole game. 

The frame opened in the Huskies’ favor. Two minutes into the period, an interference call on the Terriers put UConn on the power play.

BU’s aggressive defensive style helped kill the penalty, and as time winded down, a penalty called on the Huskies put the Terriers on their own powerplay.

While the Terriers maintained strong offensive possession throughout the powerplay, the Huskies capitalized.

After returning to even strength, Ava Rinker carried the puck through the neutral zone and found forward Megan Woodworth at the top of the circle. Netminder Callie Shanahan saved Woodworth’s initial shot, but Rinker took advantage of the rebound, wristing the puck into the net giving UConn an early 1-0 lead.

BU’s second-place nationally ranked penalty kill went to work at the end of the first, fighting off the UConn offense with continued physical play. 

“We have a lot of contact and that is one of the things that we’re most proud of in our game,” Maggie Hanzel said in response to a question about the team’s physicality throughout the game. 

Although the Terriers couldn’t generate any goal-scoring chances, the rest of the frame featured strong opportunities around the slot, leading the Terriers to end the period with a 14-8 shot advantage over UConn.

“Shot totals don’t always define your game, but I think it did today in a lot of ways,” Watchorn said.

The second period was marked with chippiness on both sides, leading to several unsuccessful power play opportunities for each team. 

With a little over a minute left in the period, the Terriers were able to break through the UConn defense. Luisa Welcke collected the puck from her skate to her stick, ripping it past goaltender Tia Chan’s legs to tie the game up at one apiece.

“We created chaos in the offensive zone,” Watchorn said. “We showed dominance for streaks in the game, long streaks.”

In the same fashion as the start to the previous period, three minutes into the third, BU went to the box for interference, putting UConn on the player advantage.

As the penalty expired, Rinker found the puck straight out of the penalty box. She quickly moved through the neutral zone, slipping a clean wrist shot top shelf for the 2-1 lead.

With four minutes remaining, BU pulled Shanahan for the extra attacker.

As Christina Vote and Jada Habisch chased the puck down the neutral zone into the BU defensive zone, Habisch gained enough control to shoot the puck into the empty net, putting UConn up 3-1 and effectively securing the win.

“We put ourselves in a situation to win the regular season, and we wanted that,” Watchorn said. “But more importantly we wanted to find our playoff game, and I am proud of that.”

The Terriers are set for the quarterfinal round in the Hockey East Tournament next Saturday, March 1st, at the Walter Brown Arena. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m., with streaming available on ESPN+.