{"id":19243,"date":"2019-11-13T19:29:30","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T00:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sportswtbu.com\/?p=19243"},"modified":"2020-01-09T17:18:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T22:18:00","slug":"womens-hockey-for-julia-nearis-playing-at-bu-is-more-than-a-dream-come-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2019\/11\/13\/womens-hockey-for-julia-nearis-playing-at-bu-is-more-than-a-dream-come-true\/","title":{"rendered":"Women’s Hockey: For Julia Nearis, playing at BU is more than a dream come true"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Julia Nearis makes a pass against Northeastern. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By: Patrick Donnelly<\/em><\/p>\n

For Julia Nearis, donning the Scarlet and White and playing at Walter Brown Arena marked a dream come true. To her, “Wally B” is more than just home ice for Boston University \u2013 it is almost quite literally her home ice. A Beverly, MA native, the freshman’s home is about half an hour from BU’s campus. Playing college hockey in-state was never a question.<\/p>\n

“[Playing close to home is] amazing. I was in Connecticut [for prep school] for a while and being back here is something I definitely dreamt about,” Nearis said. “I was asked to go outside of [Mass.] during the recruitment process and I refused.”<\/p>\n

“It’s definitely really special and I can’t wait to keep playing here.”<\/p>\n

Nearis had plenty of opportunities to realize her dream during the recruitment process, as she had local options, but BU won her heart almost immediately.<\/p>\n

“Out of all the visits in Massachusetts \u2013 Havard, BC, I thought about Northeastern \u2013 when I visited BU, there was the city aspect that I loved . . . it just felt a lot like home,” said Nearis. “With every tour I would go out to see the ice, look around and soak it in. A lot of the facilities were nice and pretty and all that, but I think BU had a lot of character.”<\/p>\n

“Wally B is definitely where I wanted to play. Scarlet and white\u2019s a great color combo, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Julia Nearis skates to the front of the net in a game versus Yale. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nearis made her collegiate debut for BU last month, and scored her first collegiate goal in her second game, a 2-2 tie with the Merrimack Warriors at the Terriers’ home opener.<\/p>\n

“[Scoring my first goal at home] was fun. Obviously with girls\u2019 hockey we\u2019re trying to get more fans to come out, and to have a crowd like that and hear the fans cheering for the first goal of the year in Wally B, it was special,” Nearis said. “Having my parents in the crowd was pretty cool. Hopefully it was one of many to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, Nearis has not had false hope for her goal-scoring ability, as she leads the team in goals with six through the first 11 games of the season, with the fourth-most total points on the team with seven.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to make plays,” the Kent School and Boston Jr. Eagles product said. “I love to rack up points, but whatever we can do to get the job done is good enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The forward has been productive to start her college hockey career, even though she is learning on the job in the midst of a major transitional period for her game.<\/p>\n

“Obviously it\u2019s a quicker pace, so I\u2019m working on trying to keep up,” Nearis, who is listed at 5-foot-9, noted. “I\u2019m one of the bigger skaters out there, and there are some smaller girls in our league who are really fast, keeping up with them is definitely a goal.”<\/p>\n

Not only is it an adjustment to the faster pace of Division I hockey, but the emphasis on strength and weight-training has never been stronger for Nearis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m lifting a lot more and getting a lot stronger. That\u2019s definitely a point of focus for the girls here,” she continued. “I\u2019ve been working with our trainer on my explosiveness.”<\/p>\n

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Julia Nearis skates in on the forecheck versus Yale. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I love it. I love being challenged. I eat that up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenge of adjusting to college life and Division\u00a0 I is not the only hurdle for Nearis this season. This season’s Beanpot is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated tournaments in recent memory.<\/p>\n

Northeastern and Boston College are national powerhouses, as predicted, with BU a national force in its own right, putting the city on notice with its first tournament title in 38 years (first as a varsity program) last season. To add to the level of competition, Harvard, last year’s host and runner-up, has burst onto the national scene this season.<\/p>\n

The Terriers capped off their celebration of last year’s title by raising the Beanpot banner before the home opener. As the winners of last year’s tournament, the Terriers will host the 2020 Beanpot at Walter Brown\u2013Harvard hosted last year since BC repeated the previous year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter seeing the Beanpot banner being raised, right now that\u2019s our goal,” Nearis added. “We\u2019re also not trying to look forward. We\u2019re taking it game by game, but when the time comes we\u2019ll be ready because a lot of girls know what it takes and what it means to win something like that. So, I\u2019m very happy to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only is BU hosting the Beanpot, but the 2020 Women’s Frozen Four will be played at Agganis Arena, home of the men’s ice hockey team and a stone’s throw from Wally B.<\/p>\n

“Obviously the NCAA\u2019s are here, so with it being in your hometown you gotta win it,” the winger said.<\/p>\n

“When I first committed, my first thought was the Beanpot and the NCAA\u2019s.”<\/p>\n

The Terriers returned all but three players from last year’s team \u2013 Reagan Rust, Mary-Grace Kelley and Connor Galway graduated \u2013 and a talented pool of freshmen joined this year’s team, including Nearis, who was a star at the prep and club levels, and Nadia Mattivi, who earned plenty of accolades on the international stage with the Italian national team.<\/p>\n

With so many players on this year’s squad, like captains Sammy Davis and Natasza Tarnowski or All-American Jesse Compher, who have all experienced the high of reaching the top of the mountain in Boston college hockey and the low of championship heartbreak, the Terriers have quite the leadership foundation in the dressing room.<\/p>\n

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Julia Nearis skates up-ice against Northeastern. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c[The upperclassmen] have all been really great with teaching me, especially during practice,” Nearis said. “The seniors, juniors, and even the sophomores, are all leaders for the team in their own way. That\u2019s definitely something I\u2019m very grateful for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearis has already scored against Hockey East foes like Merrimack, Providence, and most notably, cross-town rival Northeastern. However, there’s one team on her mind heading into this weekend: the BC Eagles.<\/p>\n

The Battle of Commonwealth Avenue is one of the most storied rivalries around the Boston sports landscape, taking center stage on the ice each season. Last month, Nearis made clear what she is most excited for this season, and that excitement will come to a head on Friday as the Terriers and Eagles are set to square off at Wally B.<\/p>\n

“I’m pumped for the first game against BC. The Battle of Comm. Ave \u2013 that’s what you live for, right?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Patrick Donnelly For Julia Nearis, donning the Scarlet and White and playing at Walter Brown Arena marked a dream come true. To her, “Wally B” is more than just home ice for Boston University \u2013 it is almost quite literally her home ice. A Beverly, MA native, the freshman’s home is about half an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17192,"featured_media":19800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1041],"tags":[1053,69,1147,1148,1246,1247],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19243"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20841,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19243\/revisions\/20841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}