Women’s Hockey: No. 14 Terriers fall in tight battle with No. 8 Colgate

By Ryan Owens

The No. 14 Boston University Women’s Hockey (0-4-0, 0-0-0 HE) came up short in a close match against the Colgate Raiders (2-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC), 4-3, at Class of 1965 Arena Saturday.

The loss marked the end of a tough weekend series for the Terriers, which saw them get swept by the Raiders and kept BU winless thus far this season.

“It’s unfortunate to only show up for one of six periods this weekend,” said BU Head Coach Tara Watchorn, choosing not to mince words after the defeat.

The game began with the Terries taking four penalties in the latter half of the first frame, but they managed to keep the puck out of the net.

BU would get its own power play opportunity late in the first, but would fail to capitalize, sending both teams to the locker rooms remaining scoreless.

Seven minutes into the second period, Colgate forward Emma Pais would break the scoreless run, netting the puck behind BU goalie Michelle Pasiechnyk for her first goal of the game and her third in the series against the Terriers.

Pais would score again in the final minute of the frame, giving her two goals in each game while doubling the lead to 2-0 for the Raiders just before the buzzer.

“We haven’t been connected,” Watchorn said. “I think it’s more foundational. It’s our mentality, it’s learning how to be one piece of the puzzle.”

Early in the third period, Terriers Lexie Berlelson and Greta Henderson passed the puck to sophomore forward Kayleigh Quigg in the slot, allowing her to net the puck, bringing the score to 2-1.

After killing another penalty, Riley Walsh dotted a pass to senior Clara Yuhn, allowing BU to tie the game in the eighth minute of the third period.

The tie would not hold for long, as Colgate senior defender Casey Borgiel would net another goal for the Raiders, giving them a 3-2 lead.

The lead would evaporate as quickly as it came when Terrier forward Lilli Welcke poked the puck in the net, sneaking it past freshman goaltender Brooke Davis and bringing the game back to a 3-3 tie.

The scoring was not over. Just over a minute later, Colgate senior Alexis Petford scored, allowing the dust to settle on a 4-3 lead for the Raiders with five and a half minutes left to play.

BU made plenty of attempts to tie the game again, even bringing Pasiechnyk to the bench with two and a half minutes left to play. The Terriers could not break through before the buzzer sounded, leaving them in defeat.

Both teams failed to capitalize on their power plays throughout the game, taking a combined eight penalties without scoring on the man advantage.

Pasiechnyk stopped 38 shots, withstanding a barrage as Colgate outshot BU 42-18 in the game. Davis stopped 15 shots in the win for the Raiders.

“I think we’ve just got to keep learning from every experience,” Watchorn said. “As long as we’re doing that, we’re defining success in the way we want to build our identity, then I think we’ll keep chipping away.”

The Terriers will look to bounce back and get their first win of the year against Brown on Friday at Walter Brown Arena. The game will begin at 6 p.m. and will be available to stream on ESPN+.