BOSTON — When Boston College women’s hockey made its last trip to Walter Brown Arena, it was a disaster. Five third-period goals sank the Eagles in what looked like a sure win after the second period. This time around, BC played in a game with an all-too-familiar third period that delivered a much more fortunate outcome, as the Eagles held off Boston University’s late-game run to come away with a 4-3 victory.
The Terriers (1-5-0, 1-5-0 Hockey East) found themselves down three goals to BC (5-0-1, 2-0-1) with just a few minutes left in the game, but rallied back behind power-play goals from Mary Grace Kelley and Rebecca Leslie. Leslie’s goal was her second of the game, and came just after the Terriers pulled their goalie with under a minute left in the third period. The Eagles’ play was sloppy toward the end of regulation, which allowed BU to get back in the game. The Terriers took advantage of the fact that BC was getting a little too comfortable on defense at times and a little too creative with some attacks on offense.
While the Eagles were unable to tally an empty net goal to ice the game, goaltender Katie Burt and Co. secured the win with some tremendous saves and blocked shots. The Terriers outshot BC 46-18—a testament to the tremendous play of Burt—who tallied a career-high 43 saves. The win was Burt’s 53rd in the Hockey East play, putting her in sole possession of the title for most conference wins of any netminder.
Offensively, the Eagles won this year’s rendition of the Battle for Comm. Ave behind the stellar play of forward Daryl Watts, who tallied two goals in the victory. Watts first goal was the team’s second, and came with just under two minutes left in the first period. On the power play, Makenna Newkirk skated behind the goal and sent a perfect pass to Watts in the low slot. The freshman then displayed fantastic coordination by getting possession of the puck and sending it quickly to the back of the net.
Watts came close to scoring her second goal just a minute later. As the clock ticked down, she poked the puck away from a defender and was en route to a breakaway scoring chance just as the first period buzzer went off. Luckily for BC, it didn’t have to wait long for Watts to come through again. On another power play 10 minutes into the second period, Toni Ann Miano sped down the ice on a 2-on-1 alongside Watts. Miano sent a perfect cross-ice pass to Watts, who sent the puck flying into the opposite top corner of the net.
The Terriers scored their first goal less than a minute after Watts recorded her second. With a player in the penalty box on both sides, Victoria Bach found Rebecca Leslie on a 2-on-1 with a pass that emulated precisely how coaches preach breakaway tactics. The goal brought BU within two, and gave the team momentum, which allowed it to eventually give BC a scare by the end of the game.
The strong, hard-fought win keeps the Eagles undefeated, but the team will look to improve upon staying out of the penalty box after racking up eight total in the game. BC allowed one power-play goal on seven BU opportunities, and were fortunate not to concede any more than that to the No. 1 power-play converting team in the nation.
“We got ourselves in a little penalty trouble— I’ll have to take a look at some of those,” head coach Katie Crowley said after the win. “But overall I thought we played great.”
Featured Image by Lizzy Barrett / Heights Editor
