Women’s Hockey: Terriers Fall 3-1 to Colgate in Weekend Opener

By Abigail Stocker

HAMILTON, N.Y. — The No. 14 Boston University Women’s Ice Hockey team (0-3-0, 0-0-0 HEA) fell 3-1 to the No. 8 Colgate University Raiders (1-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) on Friday night in the opening game of a weekend series.

“Didn’t feel like that was BU hockey today,” said Head Coach Tara Watchorn. “We can put out a lot better effort than that and show up more prepared.”

The Terriers had a fiery start. Senior forward Lilli Welcke won the game’s first faceoff and quickly generated pressure, testing Colgate sophomore goaltender Farah Walker.

BU went to a power play, giving the Terriers a chance to capitalize early. Welcke fired two shots during the advantage, but couldn’t land a puck before the penalty expired.

Colgate responded with a burst of attempts on the net in the following minutes. Junior Terrier goaltender Mari Pietersen did not let the Raiders score, keeping the game at 0-0.

Midway through the first period, after a scramble in the neutral zone, senior forward Riley Walsh collected the puck and sent it ahead to freshman forward Lexie Bertelsen, who netted her first collegiate goal to give the Terriers an early 1-0 lead.

Colgate answered with 26.4 seconds left in the opening frame, burying a loose puck between the pipes to tie the game 1-1.

The Raiders took control in the second period as the Terriers found themselves in penalty trouble. Colgate converted on its second power play of the period to grab a 2-1 lead.

BU had two more power-play opportunities in the third but could not shift momentum.

The Terriers’ failure to use power play momentum was an issue that Watchorn commented on.

“Everyone wants to be on a power play, but with that comes ownership and finding ways to be curious about how you move the puck and what that does to the opponent,” Watchorn said.

With under a minute remaining, the Terriers pulled Pietersen for the extra skater, but Colgate sealed the win with an empty-net goal to end the matchup 3-1.

Despite the loss, Watchorn praised Pietersen’s performance, which kept BU in the game.

“She had a great game,” Watchorn said. “That could have been a lot different score tonight, and she made some big ones, some timely ones, and definitely had another great game.”

Colgate outshot Boston University 31-20. The Terriers blocked eight shots, led by senior defender Lilli Welcke with two.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s rematch, Watchorn said the team will make defensive adjustments.

“We gotta dictate the play more defensively,” Watchorn said. “We were so reactive to them all night, and that’s in every zone of the ice. So we’ll take a look at that in the video and get back to work.”

The Terriers will try to split the series Saturday night at the Class of 1965 Arena. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.