Eagles' Struggles Continue

Despite holding the red-hot, No. 8 Connecticut Huskies scoreless through the first 20 minutes of play Saturday afternoon, the Boston College women's hockey team (5-15-9, 4-9-4 Hockey East) was not able to escape Freitas Ice Forum with the victory. UConn (18-6-5, 9-3-4 Hockey East) came into the game having won its eight previous contests and was playing extremely well against conference opponents. The Huskies erupted for three goals in just under eight minutes in the middle frame to defeat the Eagles, 3-1, in the Hockey East match-up.

The two teams played a relatively even first period, as solid goaltending from both sides prevented either team from scoring the first goal. Sophomore Monique Weber opened the scoring for the Huskies, though, with her tally at 6:23 of the second period off a feed from Michelle Binning. The Huskies would strike again six minutes later as junior Brittany Murphy doubled the Huskies' advantage to 2-0. Jennifer Chaisson would make it a three-goal period for UConn a little less than two minutes later with a power-play goal. The Huskies controlled much of the play throughout the contest and were able to suppress any hopes of a comeback by the Eagles.

A shutout for the Huskies was not to be, however, as BC sophomore Mary Restuccia broke the Eagles' scoreless spell with her goal at 14:46 of the final period. Restuccia's goal came on the power play off passes from Caitlin Walsh and Kristina Brown, but was not enough to turn the tide or momentum of the game. The Eagles received a strong effort in net from freshman goalie Corinne Boyles, who stopped 31 shots in a game where the Huskies outshot the Eagles by nine, 34-25.

The loss to the Huskies continues an already long and frustrating streak for the Eagles, who dropped their seventh consecutive game and have not won since defeating Northeastern in early December. The Huskies, meanwhile, capped off their ninth straight win with their victory over the Eagles.

BC's five overall victories are now the fewest by any team in Hockey East, and only Maine has fewer Hockey East victories than the Eagles. Even still, the Eagles sit in sixth place in the eight-team conference, five points ahead of Vermont, thanks to four ties and four shootout wins.

The loss to UConn comes on the heels of a 5-0 defeat to No. 6 Harvard, which beat the Eagles in the opening round of the women's Beanpot tournament Tuesday night. The Eagles are next slated to play against Boston University in the consolation game of the Beanpot tomorrow night.