As Boston College women’s hockey prepared for its Saturday afternoon match against Holy Cross, the Eagles found themselves looking to break a three-game losing streak.
Their last loss came against Holy Cross on Thursday, and the Eagles were seeking their revenge.
The first period did not assuage their concerns about breaking the three-game losing streak as BC’s first two power plays came up empty, making the Eagles 0-for-13 on the season for power plays.
Even a first-period goal from Kara Goulding did not assure them, as last Thursday’s matchup against the Crusaders saw the Eagle score first and proceed to surrender four straight goals en route to a 4–1 loss.
“We weren’t happy with that one for sure,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said of Thursday’s game.
But, on the Eagles’ 15th power play of the season, the offense finally started to show its stereotypical powerplay dominance After a centering pass from BC’s Sammy Taber, Abby Newhook shoved the puck past Holy Cross’ Brooke Loranger for the Eagles first power play goal of the game and the season.
“Very important,” Crowley said of the significance of the Eagles scoring their first power-play goal. “I was happy with the fact that we held them to none on their end and were able to put two in we need to be able to start producing when we get those opportunities”
The Eagles (2–3, 1–1–0 Hockey East) carried that momentum with them and ultimately downed Holy Cross (4–2–0, 1–1–0) 5–1.
More penalties followed in the second period, and led to a 4-on-4 situation in which the Crusaders’ Reghan Chadwick snuck the puck past BC’s Bailey Callaway with 2:47 left in the second frame. Despite a temporary shift in momentum to the Crusaders’ side, BC held firm and maintained a one-goal advantage heading into the third period.
Here, the dam that was Holy Cross’ defensive line burst. The Eagles scored three goals in this period. Another power play saw Roy Gaby score off a Newhook assist. They were followed by goals by Lauren Glaser and Carson Zanella.
“We’ve been holding our sticks a little too tight and trying so hard to score that they finally just said let’s play a little more relaxed, keep things simple, don’t try too hard to make the fancy play,” Crowley said of how BC’s offense finally started to show its capabilities.
As the final horn sounded, the Eagles walked off the ice with a different result than they had had on Thursday. Crowley pointed to the team’s accountability and attitude as the cause of the win.
“No one was pointing fingers at each other… everyone kind of looked at themselves and we wanted to be better and we definitely were today… I’m very proud of the way we played today,” Crowley said.
Not only was the result different, but it was a day of firsts. Kara Goulding, Lauren Glaser, and Carson Zanella all recorded their first goals. Netminder Bailey Callaway also recorded his first win as the squad’s goaltender as well.
“To see her get her first win… I know she’s excited for that and I’m happy we were able to get her that,” Crowler said of Callaway.
Despite the first-time accomplishments of certain players, the victory was a total team effort according to Crowley.
“All our forward lines were working well together… I thought our D was very good at moving pucks up quickly,” Crowley said. “I thought that line of Sammy Taber, Julia Pellerin, and Lauren glazer was really good… I thought they worked really well together as a group.”
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