With the score tied at 1–1 with just over 3:30 to go in the third period of No. 14 Boston College women’s hockey’s matchup against No. 13 Northeastern, Peyton Compton of the Huskies found herself all alone with the puck on her own blue line following a blocked shot. Turning up ice at full speed, she skated toward BC’s goal, with only Grace Campbell standing between her and a crucial late-game lead.
On the breakaway, Compton went forehand to backhand, looking to tuck the puck into the back of the net. Campbell didn’t buy the move and sprawled out across the crease to make a game-saving stop with her blocker. Sophomore defenseman Jade Arnone then cleared the puck down the ice.
Then, the unpredictable took place.
Arnone’s clearing attempt had made it all the way down the ice and was bouncing toward Northeastern’s netminder Gwyneth Philips’ goal. Phillips decided to leave her net to play the puck, looking to move it back up ice to one of her teammates.
Instead, Phillips whiffed on the pass and the puck continued bouncing toward the Huskies’ net, where BC’s Julia Pellerin tracked it down. The freshman forward then slammed home the puck to make it 2–1 BC with 3:24 left to play.
Despite the late goal, BC (14–10–7, 13–6–5 Hockey East) could not finish the job, and fell 3–2 in an overtime loss to the Huskies (22–9–2, 15–7–2 Hockey East) after they responded just over two minutes later.
BC’s late goal would not have been possible had it not been for the heroics of Campbel, according to BC head coach Katie Crowley.
“She’s a tremendous goaltender, she was great for us back there,” Crowley said of Campbell following the game.
The top-15 matchup panned out as a physical, and high-speed matchup that grew in intensity as the game went on.
It took over 35 minutes before somebody scored the game’s first goal, and it came when Northeastern capitalized on a power-play opportunity late into the second frame.
The Eagles refused to end that period quietly, though. They received a power-play chance of their own with 48 seconds to go, and with just 6.7 seconds left in the frame, the Eagles found a way to put one past Phillips, though not without controversy.
A one-time blast from Molly Jordan at the point was redirected by Sammy Smigliani in front of the net with a noticeably high stick, and the puck trickled across the goal line.
Upon further replay, however, Smigliani’s high stick on the puck did not cause the puck to go directly into the back of the net, nor did she or any of her teammates play the puck after it had been touched. Referees determined that the puck, following the high stick, bounced to a Northeastern defenseman who then knocked it into her own net.
“Momentum wise, that was huge for us,” Crowley said of the tying goal. “To score with that little time left, it was a big deal, and to get the right call was important.”
The third period was intense as both sides played physically, traded chances, and were eager to win. Despite many high-quality chances, no goals were scored until Pellerin capitalized on Phillips’ mistake with 3:30 to go.
The Campbell save that led to the go-ahead Pellerin goal was the defining moment of the game. Despite the pair’s heroics, however, the one-goal advantage would not last long.
Nearly two minutes later, the Huskies pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. The extra attacker came flying off the bench, found the puck in the slot, and fired a quick snapshot which Campbell stopped with her blocker. But the rebound drifted out to the left dot, where Northeastern’s captain Megan Carter delivered a one-time slap shot into the top corner of the net, too fast for Campbell to even react.
BC headed into yet another overtime, a stage of the game that the Eagles have become familiar with this season. Just 1:27 into the extra period, however, Northeastern’s Peyton Anderson delivered a shot off the rush just inside the left circle and over Campbell’s blocker.
Crowley said she left the game on a positive note, encouraging her team for an equally important opportunity against the same team tomorrow.
“It’s a close-knit group, but, you know, they’re gonna be upset about this one for about an hour or so,” Crowley said. “But, they’re gonna let it slide off their back and be ready for the next one tomorrow.”
