On Friday evening, the No. 1 Boston College women’s hockey team eked out its 23rd consecutive victory in a hard fought 4-2 road win over Hockey East rival Providence.
On paper, the matchup shouldn’t have been much of a contest, as the Eagles entered the night breezing through their season, undefeated through all 25 games. The Friars, on the other hand, sat at an uninspiring 6-16-4. But as Providence goaltender Allie Morse reminded the Eagles, a record doesn’t mean anything once the puck is dropped.
Without a doubt, the first star of Friday’s contest was Morse. She almost singlehandedly stole a win for Providence, making spectacular save after save, all the while keeping her struggling team afloat against the top team in the nation. Although the Eagles scored four goals on the evening, Morse was nothing short of fantastic. The Friar goalie kept the lethal Eagles offense at bay, recording an astounding 44 saves on a night in which her team only mustered 14 shots of its own.
Early on, the Eagles looked to be in some trouble. Underdog Providence struck first as senior Haley Frade found the back of the net only 3:36 into the game. Trailing early has been something of a foreign concept to the Eagles this season—however, the team responded as the No. 1 team in the nation should.
The early deficit didn’t faze the Eagles, as the team’s play picked up drastically in response to Frade’s tally. The Eagles combined suffocating defense with a flurry of 17 shots on goal in the opening frame as the team controlled the pace of play. Thanks to Morse, though, the Eagles remained without a goal only seconds away from the first intermission. With five seconds remaining, Emily Pfalzer changed that. The senior cashed in for BC, netting the team’s first goal of the evening on the power play.
The Eagles’ bombardment continued after the break as BC dominated all facets of play in the second period. After recording 17 shots in the first period, the Eagles threw another 15 on net in the second all while only allowing one shot on goal for the Friars. The Eagles couldn’t capitalize, seeing all 15 shots turned away by Morse. After two, what should have been a blowout on paper remained knotted at one due to 31 saves by Morse.
In the third period, BC was finally rewarded for its domination of play. The Eagles tallied another 16 shots in the period, but this time, the team solved Morse. Junior Haley Skarupa netted two consecutive goals in the final 20 minutes to give the Eagles some breathing room with a 3-1 lead. Skarupa’s first goal came 8:44 into the period, while her second came less than four minutes later on the power play. The way the team was playing, there was no reason to be concerned.
The Friars were not willing to lay down, as Cassidy Carels scored with two minutes to go, cutting BC’s lead to one. This didn’t last long, though, as Alex Carpenter put one in the empty net, sealing the victory for BC. Morse’s play was fantastic, but in the end, it was the overall team talent of BC that put the game out of reach.
Featured Image by Arthur Bailin / Heights Editor
