Sophomore forward Kaileigh Quigg gained possession after a board battle and passed across the ice to senior forward Clara Yuhn. Yuhn then connected through the neutral zone with senior assistant captain Sydney Healey, who ripped a wrist shot from the circle and five-holed freshman netminder Zoe Cliche on the Terriers’ first shot attempt of the night.
But for BU, which has now lost its fourth straight game, the opening goal was a misleading sign in the 2-1 loss to Vermont.
The Terriers failed to string together another performance, plagued by struggles on special teams and a lack of energy across the board.
“Not the outcome we wanted,” head coach Tara Watchorn said. “Today the lineup is obviously short, so I don’t feel like we were able to build as much momentum.”
Luisa and Lilli Welcke left the United States a day early to join Germany in the Winter Olympics because of the snowstorm approaching Boston, and senior forward Riley Walsh was held out of the lineup for “team management,” Watchorn said.
Watchorn had three forward lines and four defensive pairs. This gave freshman forward Mia Vergilii and sophomore forward Lola Reid more minutes than they have played in the past.
“They have a great opportunity,” Watchorn said. “I think that gives it ownership. It’s exciting to know there’s ice time, but what are you going to do with it for the team?”
Just two weeks ago, it looked like BU had reached a turning point after taking a 2-1 lead in overtime against Northeastern. But with a short bench for the foreseeable future and momentum seemingly depleted by the loss of Beanpot, there’s an eerie similarity to BU’s slow start to the season.
“I think ultimately if we can find a consistent game that works for us, we should stick with it,” senior defender Maeve Kelly said. “I think once we can find a level field in front of us, we will gain more confidence and the wins will come from that.”
Other than Healey’s early goal, BU was outplayed for the rest of the first period. The Terriers struggled to generate offensive zone time, largely due to forecheck breakdowns.
Vermont junior Stella Retrum tied the game midway through the frame on a wrist shot from a tight angle, and BU came out for the second with a 17-6 shot-on-goal deficit.
In the second period, all things considered, the Terriers produced a much stronger effort. BU generated 13 shots to Vermont’s seven, and Watchorn was pleased with the team’s performance over the 20 minutes.
BU made a lot of shots from the middle of the ice through the frame, which looked very dangerous, but “unless you have a really good net front, the rebounds aren’t as high quality if you want to stack them,” Watchorn explained.
Special teams dictated the rest of the game for BU. Vermont took the lead on a power-play goal 90 seconds into the player advantage. BU was fortunate to hold off the Catamounts for so long, as it couldn’t clear the puck and its coverage inside the slot was poor.
The goal resulted from a failed breakaway by the Terriers. Senior captain Mave Carey tried to move the puck across the ice with a pass from the goal line, but Vermont junior Stella Retrum picked it off and buried it.
BU gave up four goals on the penalty kick in the series, and the power play didn’t look much better.
The Terriers went 0 for 4 on the power play Saturday – including a minute and a half of 5-on-3.
“We could have performed better, you know, getting a little closer and taking up space,” Watchorn said of the 5-on-3 stint.
BU’s power play now ranks as the second worst in the country.
If the Terriers want to stabilize themselves during the latter part of the season, they will have to rediscover the brief but promising consistency they showed from December through the Beanpot semifinals.
“I think we have to find it, hold on to it and work harder to keep it,” Kelly said.
#result #wanted #womens #hockey #plagued #short #bench #loss #Vermont