It didn’t take long for freshman forward Julia Pellerin to heat up in Boston College women’s hockey’s first conference series of the season.
After breaking out in BC’s first win of the season with a goal and an assist on Friday, Pellerin added another tally Saturday with a game-tying, short-handed goal just over the halfway mark of the second frame. Following Saturday’s contest against No. 15 Connecticut, Pellerin, out of Windham, N.H., leads the Eagles in assists with three and is tied for first in goals with three.
On Pellerin’s back, BC (2–4–0, 2–0–0 Hockey East) successfully completed a weekend sweep on Saturday afternoon, beating the Huskies (1–2–1, 0–2–0) 2–1. The win marked the Eagles’ first road win of the season and helped BC move to No. 2 in conference standings.
After taking an exhilarating overtime victory over UConn on Friday afternoon, the Eagles picked up right where they left off, beginning Saturday’s matchup in Storrs, Conn. with intense energy.
BC began the game on a power play following a delay of game penalty on the Huskies, allowing its offense to take possession of the puck and maintain pressure in the offensive zone. BC’s skilled stick work allowed it to break up several of UConn’s rushes, providing help to sophomore goaltender Grace Campbell.
The Eagles outshot their opponents 3–0 in the first three minutes, but the following six shots on goal belonged to the Huskies as BC’s offensive intensity waned.
Livvy Dewar’s individual effort 12 minutes into the game split the legs of BC defenders, giving Dewar her first career goal and UConn a 1–0 lead over the Eagles. To further swing the momentum in the Huskies’ direction, BC’s Jade Arnone lost the puck, and officials assessed her a tripping penalty soon after the Dewar goal, handing the Huskies a power play.
The second period began on a similar note after the officials called the Eagles for icing and BC forward Abby Newhook lost the defensive zone face off. The Huskies maintained control offensively and kept their defensive pressure up on the Eagles, preventing BC from finding any offensive rhythm.
After a hooking call on BC’s Annaka Mettler gave UConn its second power play of the game during the second period, Newhook nearly scored on a breakaway, but she was met with a frustratingly dominant save by UConn’s Tia Chan.
UConn’s third chance at a power play, however, ended differently for the Eagles.
Halfway through the second period, Pellerin scored a definitive breakaway goal during a UConn power play. The score marked Pellerin’s third goal of the season, giving her six total points in her first six games.
The Eagles’ energy continued to improve throughout the second period, led by the returning firepower of forwards Newhook and Katie Pyne. The period was intense, with lots of back-and-forth play marked by quality shots that were met by even higher-quality saves from Chan.
With less than two minutes remaining in the second period, BC’s Pyne hit a one-timer, generating a loose puck that hit the crossbar and sliced into UConn’s goal to give the Eagles their first lead of the game at 2–1.
The game was reminiscent of Friday’s matchup when the Huskies dominated the first period, but BC outplayed them in the second.
The third period brought out physical, aggressive play from both teams. Although UConn had several chances to score during a power play briefly into the final frame, the Huskies were unsuccessful as the Eagles packed it in defensively, giving up very little space for the Huskies to get shots off.
A potentially equalizing shot by the Huskies with just over six minutes to go ricocheted off the crossbar, missing Campbell’s blocker by mere inches and keeping the Eagles in the lead.
A subsequent series of saves by Campbell closed out the game at a final score of 2–1.
