Women’s Hockey: Terriers Fall To No. 6 UConn Huskies

By Claire Smieszny

Boston University Women’s Ice Hockey (9-19-3, 7-13-2 HEA) fell to the No. 6 Connecticut Huskies (23-7-2, 16-5-1 HEA) 2-0 in a Saturday afternoon tilt at Walter Brown Arena.

“The plan in place, I think we saw growth towards the outcome we want,” BU Head Coach Tara Watchorn said after the game. “Obviously not what we want on the scoreboard, but proud of the step we took today.”

The puck bounced between both teams’ possessions at the start of play, but eventually settled into Connecticut’s hands as they created their first offensive chances of the game. The Huskies dominated the majority of the period, ringing off shot after shot on graduate student goaltender Michelle Pasiechnyk.

The Terriers found a few opportunities to create offensively, but only managed a few shots in a period where most of their efforts were spent defending a dynamic offense. This was only exacerbated when BU took a penalty towards the end of the period, but the Terriers held Connecticut to only two shots on net during their advantage to keep it a scoreless game at the first intermission.

The second period began with Connecticut jumping back on the puck immediately, wasting no time finding their way into BU’s zone and assaulting the net once again. Eleven shots and another power play later, the Huskies found the back of the net 7:45 into the period.

Senior forward Kyla Josafovic sent the puck from the corner to a waiting Emma Eryou, who whipped the puck in from the left circle to make it 1-0 Huskies.

The Terriers had no chance to respond, as Connecticut got the puck on their sticks once again and set up their offense for more chances. The Terriers’ woes continued to build, as they were assessed a five-minute major for boarding halfway through the period, along with another minor penalty.

“We went down to four [defenders], so in that situation you just have to be so mindful of momentum and the way that you’re changing,” Watchorn said of the major penalty and losing one of only five defenders in the lineup. “As soon as you slip a little bit you know you have to handle a couple long shifts in your [defensive] zone and I thought we did handle and manage it, there’s just not a lot of grace when you’re having that short of a bench.”

While the Huskies were unable to get anything past Pasiechnyk for the remainder of the period, their ability to control the play and keep the puck out of their end put the Terriers even further on the backfoot when it came to scoring chances.

The Terriers came out in the third period looking determined to find an equalizer, and created more chances on net than the previous two periods. Their efforts were helped along by two Connecticut penalties, but BU still couldn’t capitalize.

As time wound down and the Terriers were still stuck without a goal, Watchorn pulled Pasiechnyk with just over three minutes left to play. Unfortunately for BU, the Huskies got a hold of the puck and managed to put it away to double their lead at 17:14. The score remained 2-0 at the conclusion of the period.

“In the way that I’m evaluating our performance right now they did [rise to the challenge],” Watchorn said of playing their second ranked opponent in a row. “[They’re] protecting the standard and raising the bar in certain areas and they were able to stay disciplined and execute that.”

The Terriers are back in action Friday, Feb. 20 against Providence at Walter Brown Arena. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. with streaming available on ESPN+.