Before you could dig into a full table of well-cared for Chipotle, you could practically smell it from the entryway as Yuhn, wearing a backwards cap, breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“We live to see another day,” BU’s senior assistant captain said.
And that? The opportunity to practice again on Thursday morning, prepare and play another match on Saturday afternoon? That is invaluable. Yes, this was just a play-in-game victory for a program defending its title in this tournament, and sure, a runaway train that has destroyed just about everything in its path is about to come through Walter Brown Arena and, in all likelihood, end BU’s season. But these are the playoffs. These are players fighting to extend their seasons and, in the case of Yuhn and seven others, their college careers.
Context only matters to the extent you allow it. And with these kinds of bets, the context of BU’s disappointing regular-season campaign won’t matter much. Survive and move forward, baby. Survive and move forward.
“It’s playoff hockey,” said Sydney Healey, Yuhn’s co-senior assistant captain. “It’s a completely new season.”
After all, it is a cliché for a reason. The Terriers, with just 10 wins and a pile of 20 losses, entered the 2026 Hockey East Tournament needing four straight wins to repeat as champions. That’s it. And while that’s certainly easier said than done, the beauty of an NCAA postseason is that nothing other than the game matters for BU. Not the 10-20-3 regular season record. Not the eighth seed. Not that damn Beanpot final loss that so clearly shook this group’s confidence and belief, ending the year at 3-9.
That miserable regular season was lost under a cloud of expectations. But there are no more expectations, at least not externally. Only opportunities.
“It’s just relief, excitement,” Healey said of her celebration after scoring the winning goal in BU’s 3-0 victory over Providence. “Like, ‘Here we go. Playoff hockey.'”
She spent her post-game press conference with a soft smile that occasionally turned into a grin, chuckling at the excellent performances of her linemates and her goaltender, all of whom will be a real handful for top-seeded Northeastern if they play like that again on Saturday, even for a team as good as those Huskies. Asked about the return of seniors Luisa and Lilli Welcke, with whom she shared a dominant top line, Healey said simply, “I love them.” She wasn’t asked directly about junior Mari Pietersen, who posted a tougher-than-it seems 19-save shutout but couldn’t contain the elation on her face when head coach Tara Watchorn talked about the goaltender.
The atmosphere was good. That’s the point. If you don’t have to worry about anything other than winning one game, it’s pretty easy to find things to celebrate once you’ve done that.
“Their presence in the locker room only gives our team more confidence,” Healey said of the Welckes. ‘We’ll have them back Real Nice.”
The question now – as has been the case all season – is where all the good feelings and confidence come from. If they stick with Wally B by the time Northeastern arrives Saturday, BU could even have a shot at a stunning upset, one in the form of Beanpot’s semifinal win over the Huskies in early January. If the good vibes evaporate, like so many times this season, well… the rest will be history.
That’s the pressure point. But the extraordinary luxury of hosting the league’s top player as a ‘visiting’ team will certainly help. One of the few small improvements to BU’s regular season record would have What mattered was that the postseason earned the Terriers the right to play at home. They haven’t earned that right… but Northeastern doesn’t have a home. So BU, the eighth seed in a 10-team tournament, gets to stage its quarterfinals as if it were the top seed.
“It’s an added bonus,” Watchorn said. “Obviously, we know it’s going to feel a little different. We’re not the ‘home team,’ but we’ll take the good out of it.”
They certainly will. But above all, they will take the opportunity to play again, wherever and against whomever.
#atmosphere #Walter #Brown #Arena #good #Northeastern #coming #stay