Boston College women’s hockey did not just beat Maine in both of its home matchups this week. The Eagles did so with an uncanny 4–1 score on both nights, giving almost every player a chance to tally a point.
“This is a team. We’re going to do this together,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said. “We’re not just gonna be a couple of people here and there making a run for it. We’re going to do it as a group, and I’m proud of the way we’ve done it so far.”
Following a stellar Thursday night showing, BC (13–7–1, 11–5–0 Hockey East) captured another 4–1 win over Maine (11–12–0, 8–8–0) on Friday. The Eagles fired on all cylinders, posting four unanswered goals in the first two periods. Freshman goaltender Grace Campbell—who replaced BC’s regular starter Abigail Levy for the contest—rendered the second and third frames scoreless.
“Happy with the win. Happy with the sweep,” Crowley said. “I don’t think it was our best game, but we found ways to score goals which is obviously something we’ve been wanting for us to do.”
Campbell was a fresh face to the ice, taking the crease for the first time in two months.
A loose puck in front of Campbell had the Black Bears knocking on the door just five minutes in. Maine’s Alyssa Wruble fired a shot, and Rahel Enzler tried to poke the puck through, but Kelly Browne kept it out of the play.
“The [defense] was really good,” Campbell said. “I could see all the pucks, so it made my job easy.”
After officials sent Browne to the box for slashing with eight minutes remaining in the first frame, Maine was ready to capitalize on its first powerplay of the night.
Over a minute into the man advantage, Mira Seregély tapped in a rebound past Campbell for the first point of the night. In similar fashion to the previous matchup, Maine started with the lead.
Just 23 seconds later, Abby Newhook raced to the net, missing her first shot but recoiling a second shot into the back of the net, knotting up the score 1–1 and extending a seven-game goal streak for the sophomore.
“She’ll get a game-timer or a game-winner if you need one,” Crowley said of Newhook. “She’s one of those players that knows how to find the net and isn’t afraid to take a defender one-on-one. I think we saw that yesterday and today.”
Three minutes into the second frame, Newhook sent the puck flying from the faceoff dot. Bilka grabbed the puck off the boards and redirected a shot towards Mattison, which bounced off the goaltender’s back, landing Bilka’s 10th goal of the season.
“I was just following up the play,” Bilka said. “I know sometimes the goalie is just out of position after a sequence like that, so I just kind of got lucky.”
Mattison was tested twice by the Eagles’ offense in the final three minutes of the period.
At the 2:38 mark, Gaby Roy slid a pass to Browne who popped the puck over the goaltender’s shoulders, registering her third goal in the series, fourth on the year, and a 3–1 BC lead.
“She’s a seasoned vet,” Crowley said of Browne. “She’s been through a lot of hockey during her last four and a half years. She’s on a mission right now, she wants to end in a good way, and I think she’s showing that so far, so hopefully she continues.”
After Browne’s goal was notched, Alexie Guay and Maine’s Kennedy Little filtered into the box for combined roughing, but Katie Pyne—who had already joined the box about two minutes earlier for cross checking—left in time to help generate a scoring chance on BC’s powerplay.
Browne sauced a pass to Pyne, forcing Mattison out of position. Pyne found an opening for a backhand shot to give BC its fourth powerplay goal of the season, and make the score 4–1 right as the period expired.
“Nice to score a powerplay goal with a few seconds left,” Crowley said. “Tough on the shorthanded one that we gave up, but happy that we were able to put a powerplay goal in.”
Maine put a new face in goal in the third period, replacing Mattison with Brooklyn Oakes. The Black Bears maintained possession of the puck and peppered Campbell with shots, ensuring that Oakes wouldn’t see much activity down on her end. But Campbell remained firm in net, securing the Eagles’ victory.
“They played hard, and they’re a good team over there,” Crowley said. “I’m happy with the way that we were able to come out with two wins.”
