In the second period of Boston College women’s hockey game against Holy Cross on Saturday, the Eagles found themselves with a five-to-three power play advantage after two Crusaders penalties. But BC failed to score during the advantage, just as they struggled to do all game—the Eagles only found the back of the net twice on 37 shots.
“Thirty-seven shots is quite a few, and I think when we have some offensive opportunities, we gotta find ways to bury pucks,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said. “This weekend we had a lot of odd man rushes and opportunities to put that team away and we weren’t able to do that, so they hung on and were able to take the shootout win.”
The Eagles (3–4–1, 3–0–1 Hockey East) and the Crusaders (1–4–0, 0–1–1 Hockey East) needed an eight-round shootout in Conte Forum to determine who would earn the extra Hockey East point after overtime ended in a 2–2 tie. Holy Cross’ Carmen Elliot put one past goalkeeper Grace Campbell in the shootout, and Gaby Roy missed her subsequent attempt to hand Holy Cross the extra point.
BC outshot the Crusaders 37–26 on Friday and came back from down one goal twice. But it wasn’t enough for the victory, and the Eagles finished the weekend with a win and a tie.
The Eagles attacked the goal early, sending bodies to the net to fire shot after shot—totaling six in the first five minutes. Jade Arnone almost scored at the three minute mark, but Crusaders’ goalkeeper Madison Beck moved in front for the save.
It was the Crusaders who opened the scoring in the 13th minute. Emmanuelle Gendron broke past the Eagle’s defense and popped the puck past Campbell to give Holy Cross a 1–0 lead.
The Eagles, however, went on the power play at the 14:44 mark minute after Lilly Feeney was booked for hooking. Sidney Fess took advantage, tying the game up at 1–1 less than a minute later. Fess shrouded the net, caught a rebound, and pushed the puck into the back of the net.
“We’ve struggled on our power play a bit in the past and we’re certainly finding ways to score goals right now and hopefully that continues,” Crowley said. “When you get those opportunities, you’ve got to find ways to bury that puck.”
Holy Cross had a power play of its own with four minutes remaining in the first period via a penalty on Julia Pellerin for interference. The Crusaders regained its lead on the power play, as Charlotte Sonntag picked up a rebound near the circle and fired it toward the goal, where it was deflected and bounced.
The first period ended with Holy Cross ahead 2–1. BC, however, tallied 15 shots in the first period compared to the Crusaders’ 11.
Holy Cross started the second period on the offensive, as BC was booked for another hooking penalty at the 2:22 mark, this time on Annaka Mettler. While Roy almost scored while on the disadvantage, the Crusaders failed themselves to score during the power play.
Feeney and Lane Lewis, however, received back-to-back penalties, and BC quickly found itself on the five-on-three advantage. The Eagles hounded the net, firing off three shots, but failed to find the tying goal.
Each squad struggled to score until Holy Cross’ Bryn Saarela was called for a major penalty after a rough hit, putting the Eagles on another power play. And this time, BC took advantage.
At the 17:44 mark, Katie Pyne scored a rocket from near the circle, sending the puck flying past Beck to the top left corner to tie the game at 2–2, which remained the score heading into the third period.
“I like that we’re able to come back, but I think we need to have a little bit more of a mentality when the game first starts, the ‘let’s try to go up on a team,’” Crowley said. “I’m really happy with the battle we put out to come back.”
Roy almost put BC ahead five minutes into the third period, firing off consecutive shots, but Beck deflected both.
Holy Cross, meanwhile, almost took the lead at the 9:45 mark, as Gendron Cru found herself on a one-on-one breakaway. But Campbell stood strong to come away with a save.
The Crusaders had another chance to take the lead as Arnone was called for hooking with three minutes left, but Holy Cross failed to score, and regulation, and the game, ended in a 2–2 tie.
The Eagles started the three-on-three overtime on the offensive, but Holy Cross had a quick breakaway and forced a save from Campbell. Neither team, however, could find the net, and the game went to a shootoff.
Through seven rounds, no one could score, with Campbell and Beck notching seven consecutive saves. But Elliott finally scored, and Holy Cross walked away with the extra Hockey East point.
