Merrimack’s Celine Tedenby sprinted down the ice in overtime in search of the game-winner when she suddenly met a poised poke-check. Boston College women’s hockey goalkeeper Grace Campbell’s paddle stopped the puck in its tracks, and sent Tedenby flying across the crease. Tedenby had already potted a goal in the contest.
But Campbell’s crucial save on Tedenby kept the Eagles alive in the extra period, and Jade Arnone found herself with a chance to give the Eagles the overtime win with her own stick.
Just over four minutes into overtime, Arnone found the top-left corner on a sharp-angled snipe that gave BC the win and the series sweep over Merrimack.
Coming off of a 3–0 loss to the Eagles (5–4–1, 5–0–1 Hockey East) on Friday, the Warriors (4–6–1, 1–4–1) looked to rebound after they were held scoreless by another heroic performance by Campbell. But on a day where open chances were few and far between, both sides struggled out of the gates, and BC eventually came away with the 3–2 overtime win.
In the opening 10 minutes of the first period, both Campbell and the Warriors’ netminder, Calli Hogarth, remained solid between the pipes. They both faced a series of mid-to-high slot shots, such as a toe-drag release from Merrimack’s Alex Ferguson which Campbell parried.
But, after a gap-up play by Annaka Mettler, Tedenby chipped a loose puck past the unbalanced defender and overlapped her board-side, creating a two-on-one opportunity the other way. Expecting a pass, Siydney Fess sprawled out in the slot, blocking the passing lane but leaving Campbell vulnerable to the shot.
Taking advantage of the wide-open lane, Tedenby rifled one to the left side, barely squeaking the puck past Campbell’s blocker to open the scoring at 1–0.
After the end of the first period, and a series of penalties from both sides, the Eagles found themselves chasing from behind. Coming off a day where she notched her first collegiate goal, Sammy Taber continued her momentum on Saturday afternoon.
During a broken break-out attempt, where Merrimack’s Teghan Inglis found herself flat-footed at her own face-off dot, Taber stripped her of the puck and found Gabby Roy, who chipped the puck over Hogarth’s pad to even the score.
Moments later, Sammy Smigliani, camped out in the right corner of Merrimack’s defensive zone, shot out of the corner, grabbing a loose puck at the bottom of the right face-off circle, and darted past Warrior defenders into the high slot.
Merrimack found themselves in a sound defensive formation, but did not account for the wide-open slot. Before the Warriors could recover, Smingliani fired a dart past the glove of Hogarth, putting the Eagles ahead 2–1.
Seconds later, Cailin Flynn got caught flat-footed, sending her to the box for a tripping penalty—just one of the six penalties the Eagles registered in the contest. Just after the 16-minute mark of the second period, the Warriors found themselves with a man advantage.
With tired legs, the Eagles found themselves packed into the low slot with bodies layering screen after screen in front of a helpless Campbell. Merrimack’s Payten Evans sent a seeing-eye wrister on net that knuckled past Campbell’s blocker and into the top left corner of the net to make the score 2–2 going into the second intermission.
The third period proved to be just like the first, in that both teams failed to find scoring opportunities dangerous enough to beat netminders Campbell and Hogarth, who both swallowed up pucks and threats in the crease.
In the overtime period, after Campbell’s heroic desperation save, the Warriors once again found themselves in the defensive zone, leaving shooting lanes wide open.
In a game where Arnone had a rocky start, finding herself out of position on the game’s first goal, she proved to have a sound finish as she found the top-left corner for the 3–2 game winner and the series sweep.
