Against Northeastern – a team not even fighting for its season – the Terriers couldn’t score more than one goal, and with that their season is over with a 2-1 dual loss in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
What’s frustrating for BU is that it played a full game at Walter Brown Arena on Saturday. The Terriers retained possession in the attacking zone in chunks, controlled hard and generally held their ground defensively.
It was the performance BU needed with the season on the line, and the Terriers got anything but the result, a problem that has plagued them all year.
The 2025-26 season has been one of ups and downs, but one thing has remained consistent through 35 games: BU’s inability to capitalize on its opportunities.
Head coach Tara Watchorn is going to kid herself because this was a game the Terriers could have won.
Here are three takeaways:
There’s not much more to say about Sydney Healey
Apart from the question of when her shoulders will start to hurt. Because Healey wore BU all season. And – not to take anything away from the rest of the Terriers’ squad, which played well – but the story was no different on Saturday afternoon.
When BU needed some time, Healey did it all on his own. After the penalty, she won the race with a loose puck, weaved her way through a defender in the neutral zone and fired a wrister from the bottom of the right circle over Jönsson, NU’s star goalkeeper. It was her 18th goal and 29th point of the season — both leading BU by double digits — and her second shorty in as many playoff games after her game-winner against Providence in the first round.
Many Terriers did not have the season they hoped for. Some even deteriorated. But Healey — after a huge junior season in which she led BU in goals and points and scored Hockey East’s game-winning goal — became even better. – Sam Robb O’Hagan
The BU knew how to deal with its limitations well
For the sixth game in a row, Watchorn dressed only five defenders. The first of those games was a 5-2 loss to these Huskies at Walter Brown Arena, in a loss that saw BU and its two defensive pairings struggle to contain the waves of Northeastern talent.
Part of the problem in that game, Watchorn said, was BU’s lack of discipline in ending shifts. Too often, players stayed on the ice for too long, which, unsurprisingly, caused fatigue and led to the Terriers’ overall performance lagging dramatically after a strong first period. How BU ends his services is always a priority for Watchorn, and its importance increases significantly with just five defenders.
BU handled it much better on Saturday. The Terriers were boxed into their zone only a few times – a classic indicator of a shift that lasted too long. And after a strong first period (more on that below) ended with BU still trailing by a goal, the Terriers maintained their level for 60 minutes. — Robb O’Hagan
A single mistake extinguishes a good first period
Margins are thinner in the postseason, just ask Tessa Demain.
Just 4:32 into regulation, the second-year defenseman misjudged a ball at the blue line, catapulting Èloïse Caron alone on goal, an opportunity she took advantage of by firing a shot past Mari Pietersen to give Northeastern the lead.
BU outscored the Huskies in the first period, but a mistake that NU’s Caron capitalized on was the early difference. The Terriers outscored the Huskies 11-9 in the first twenty minutes, and although NU came late with sustained offensive zone time, BU had more quality chances but still went into the locker room down 1-0. – Eli Cloutier
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