That didn’t happen for the Terriers, who have now lost three straight games after falling 5-2 to the Catamounts on Friday night at Walter Brown Arena.
BU defeated Harvard at TD Garden in Tuesday’s loss, but that wasn’t the case against Vermont. The Catamounts seemed to have taken notes from the Beanpot final, taking advantage of the power play and scoring three goals on the player advantage – something the Terriers failed to achieve on the night.
BU’s first impression of the game came via a breakaway just over a minute into regulation. Senior Sydney Healey tossed the puck onto the ice, which junior Neely Nicholson immediately caught, but freshman goalie Zoe Cliche made the save for the Catamounts — finishing with 33 that night. The Terriers tried several times to sneak behind the Vermont blueliners to no avail.
For much of the season and in both Beanpot games, BU (7-14-3, 5-8-2 Hockey East) had just three forwards, but on Friday the Terriers’ fourth line — freshmen Mia Vergilii and Anežka Čabelová and sophomore Lolo Reid — saw semi-regular ice time and was solid.
The trio put together an excellent team early in the first period, along with BU’s third defensive pairing, sophomore Kate Meinert and freshman Lucy Thiessen, who returned to the lineup after a six-game absence. After a sustained series of attacking zones, the shift culminated in a redirection from Čabelová after a point shot from Thiessen.
The Terriers were the better team in the opening 20 minutes and retained possession in the attacking zone, as head coach Tara Watchorn so often preaches. BU had a 12-9 shots on goal lead after the first period.
Struggling to do the same, the Catamounts (11-12-4, 5-7-3 HE) — as BU is accustomed to at this point — looked for offense on the rush and in transition. Vermont had looks on goal, but the Terriers did well to limit the number of chances.
BU opened the second period on the back foot and Thiessen was called for hooking just 2:04 into the frame. Despite killing the penalty, the Catamounts kept the pressure on and opened the scoring at 5:13.
After a icing on the cake kept the Terriers forward on the ice after a long shift, graduate Darci Matson found space in the slot, received a pass and beat graduate netminder Michelle Pasiechnyk to give Vermont a 1-0 lead.
From there, things only got worse for BU.
The Catamounts scored a pair of power-play goals late in the second after both senior twins Luisa and Lilli Welcke were called for boarding penalties.
The first came at 3:34 courtesy of senior Julia Mespléde, whose tame wrist shot squirted past Pasiechnyk. The second came at the 5:33 mark — just five seconds after the player advantage — when junior Stella Retrum buried her own rebound in the offensive zone after a draw.
Vermont scored a third power-play goal at 8:51 of the final frame after senior Riley Walsh was called for heel. Junior Morgann Skoda cleared a loose puck for Pasiechnyk, who made 27 saves in the loss.
The Terriers got on the board at 10:45 of the third. On the power play, sophomore Keira Healey nailed a one-timer for her first collegiate goal.
BU was awarded another power play shortly after the conversion, but instead of capitalizing with the extra skater, the Catamounts struck with a short hand at 12:03. A Keira Healey defensive zone turnover put Vermont at 2-on-0, and Retrum made it 5-1.
Sydney Healey regained the lead with less than a minute to play on the leading group. She jumped loose after blocking a shot in the defensive zone.
This story will be updated.
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