By David F. Pendrys

BOSTON, MA- A day after the BU Terriers downed the Connecticut Huskies 4-1 in Storrs, the two teams met again at Walter Brown Arena Saturday afternoon.

Despite a lot of early pressure in the first period, it was Connecticut who got on the board first thanks to a power play. When Kelly Harris teed a puck up from deep in the zone, it ended up in the back of the net at 17:37. Jaime Fox and Jessica Stott picked up assists on the opening score. When the period wrapped up BU had an 8 to 6 shot advantage but trailed 1-0.

In period 2, the penalties were called often, but the most dramatic came when Rebecca Lindblad was sent to the box for a five minute major for boarding. BU was able to capitalize as Sammy Davis deflected an Alexis Crossley shot over the UC netminder Annie Belanger to tie it up at 4:37. Abby Cook also picked up a secondary assist. However, not long afterward CT’s Reese Maccario scored short handed at 5:34 when the puck came to her and she swept in to beat BU’s Victoria Hanson on a breakaway. Kayla Mee and Lindsay Roethke picked up assists as well. When all was said and done BU had sent 14 shots on the net and Connecticut had sent 8 in the period, but the lead was still Connecticut’s.

The third period would prove to be a dramatic sequence. BU found themselves having to kill off a 5 on 3 sequence and succeeded but it cut into the time they needed to try to come back from the deficit. However with 3:11 left in the game, UC’s Kelly Harris went off for Hooking, and gave BU a skater advantage. Not long after that BU’s Coach Brian Durocher pulled Hanson for a six on four opportunity, but an icing call forced her back into net for a time and the penalty was soon over. The Huskies nearly scored on the empty net but Sarah Steele got back just in time to wallop the puck away.

“Pucks didn’t get in the net today,” Coach Durocher said. “There was a few reasons for that obviously. There goaltender is a talented kid. I thought we were a little lax early in the game not really being committed to offense. Different parts of it. Our shots were up in the air where should grab them. We maybe weren’t fighting or racing to the net. Maybe in the middle of the game maybe we let it get away on the power play. Also have to give them a ton of credit. I know they blocked a lot of shots…on 6 on 4 there was block after block after block. A lot of credit goes to them. We need to be just a little bit sharper. A little bit of luck once and a while helps.”

“I think that we kind of just took them lightly in the fact that it just could have been the same game as yesterday, but everyday is different,” BU’s Sammy Davis said. “Any team can beat any team in this league…I think we really need to realize what the end result is which is a Hockey East and a NCAA Championship. We just need to get in the mindset that we need to win a Hockey East Championship. This is for the team not for yourself…I just think that we took them too lightly when we thought we could do what we did last night.”

Connecticut rises to 9-6-3 and 4-3-1 in Hockey East with the victory. Boston University drops to to 11-6-1 and 7-6-0 in Hockey East. Belanger made 28 saves on the 29 BU shots and Hanson made 23 saves on CT’s 25. The Huskies blocked 24 of BU’s shot attempts while BU blocked 7 of their opponents.

On what U of C did to turn it around after the game the day before Durocher went into detail.

“First goal meant a lot,” he said. “This team has got unbelievable confidence that they can win one nothing or two to one, and it’s been going on for three to four years, because that’s partly because they have to play. They’re not a dynamic offensive hand, they’re well coached. They had an All-American goalie in Elaine Chuli who graduated, and they might have a second All-American goalie here in Belanger. So they had that innate confidence and they weren’t flustered about yesterday.”

“I think that they just came out harder,” Davis said when asked what was different from the last game. “They wanted to beat us, a lot of team want to beat us and they did. They just were working ward. They scored goals that were nice goals and we just fell short.”

Noticed plays. (A not exhaustive list of plays that might not make the scoresheet. These are noticed from among the many that go on within the game.)

Connecticut

• Kayla Mee had at least two blocks including when she got a skate on a Terrier shot that would have gone into the empty side of the net otherwise. She also blocked a pass during a penalty kill, and cleared at least twice when the team was down a skater. She kept the puck inside the BU blue line to prolong an offensive effort. She also disrupted another Terrier attack, and later stole the puck from an opponent as they entered.
• Leah Lum had at least one block, cleared it from the goal mouth in another sequence, and also retrieved the puck in the offensive zone to start something.
• Jaime Fox cleared it at least 3 times during a penalty kill, she intercepted a centering pass while down a skater. She also had at least two blocks including one on the PK.
• Rebecca Lindblad cleared it at least twice on the penalty kill and had at least one block.
• Jessica Stott had at least one block on the penalty kill. She stole it in the defensive end and fed it to Lindblad who exited the zone. She also cleared it from the UC end after a heavy BU attack.
• Kelly Harris had at least one break in on the net. She also stole it in the offensive zone to produce an opportunity.
• Lindsay Roethke had at least two blocks including one on the penalty kill and cleared it at least twice when down a skater.
• Theresa Knutson had a break on net.
• Cydnee Cook got it out of the goal mouth after a BU attack. She also cleared it at least twice on penalty kills.
• Tristyn Svetek exited the puck from the goal area
• Reese Maccario brought it out of the defensive end while killing a penalty.
• Justine Fredette intercepted a BU pass at least once in her zone.

Boston University

• Rebecca Leslie stole the puck in the neutral zone, and later stole it in the offensive zone for a chance
• Maddie Elia stole it at least twice in the U of C end to produce opportunities.
• Victoria Bach disrupted a Huskies attack art one point. Her efforts in the offensive zone to get the puck from an opponent. also led the puck sliding to a teammate for an opportunity.
• Sarah Steele cleared it from the goal mouth at one point. She also deflected a centering pass and later on a penalty kill cleared it at least once.
• Sammy Davis acquired the puck in the offensive zone an skated untouched for quite a while to set up a shot. She also stopped a U of C break in on net with a steal.
• Alexis Crossley intercepted the puck in the neutral zone sparking a Terrier attack. She also kept the puck from crossing the blue line during a power play and later cleared it from the defensive zone after a Huskies attack.
• Samantha Sutherland stole the puck in the neutral zone while down a skater and dumped it in. She also stole it during a penalty kill as well. She snatched the puck from an opponent in the defensive zone later and fed it to Rebecca Leslie who brought it all the way out for a chance on net.
• Connor Galway had at least one block on the penalty kill and stole the puck in the U of C end for an offensive opportunity.
• Mary Parker disrupted a visitor attack and got the puck out.
• Breanna Scarpaci cleared the puck on a penalty kill.
• Natasza Tarnowski stole the puck in the U of C end generating a possible chance.
• Abby Cook had at least one clear on the penalty kill, and whacked it out of the BU goal mouth in another instance.
• Maddie Elia had at least one block.

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