Just under two minutes after puck drop, a careening puck found itself rolling toward Boston College women’s hockey’s captain Gaby Roy in the neutral zone.
For a moment, it looked like Roy was going to make the routine play by taking the puck herself to the left wall and deep into opponent territory. But an ill-advised pinch by a Black Bear defenseman allowed freshman Alanna Devlin to start streaking down the right wing uncontested.
With eyes seemingly on the back of her head, Roy delivered a one-touch, no-look backhand pass that landed right on Devlin’s stick. The forward took the puck in stride, and with time and space let a perfect shot rip over the blocker shoulder of Maine netminder Kiia Lahtinen.
Two teams entered Saturday night’s matchup at the iconic Alfond Sports Arena in Orono, Maine on very different trajectories. The No. 13 Eagles (8–3–0, 5–1 Hockey East) were riding a six-game winning streak while the Black Bears (2–10–0, 2–6) had dropped six of their last seven, including a 3–1 loss to the Eagles on Friday night.
Those trends continued Saturday evening, as the Eagles defeated the Black Bears by a final score of 5–1.
Ninety seconds after Devlin’s goal, freshman forward Lauren Glaser followed suit with one of her own.
A defensive zone clearance by Sammy Taber to center ice found Glaser, who in a fluid, spinning motion gained a step on the Black Bear defense. Glaser, all alone from the red line, skated in and fired a shot that deflected off the netminder’s shoulder and into the back of the net, putting the Eagles up 2–0 just over three minutes into the game.
In the second period, it looked as though the game might be closer than the opening minutes indicated. A pair of Eagles roughing penalties resulted in four minutes of shorthanded hockey for BC. The Eagles were unable to keep Maine from breaking through when Alyssa Wruble beat a screened Grace Campbell upstairs from the high slot.
The Eagles found the back of the net twice more in the five minutes of the second period, though, and headed into the third period up 4–1.
Glaser’s pass hit Molly Jordan’s stick, who sent it to Taber, who deflected the puck under Lahtinen’s pads for her fifth of the season.
Minutes later, during a mad scramble in front of the net, it was a falling Katie Pyne who found Abby Newhook in the slot where she fired the puck into an open cage to put the Eagles up 4–1.
The Eagles focused on stopping a potential Maine comeback by playing strong defense.
The Eagles simplified their game, getting pucks in deep and preventing the Black Bears from generating high-danger scoring chances. The chances Maine did create were denied by Campbell.
When given the chance, BC’s offense was quick to capitalize. A hooking call against the Black Bears gave the Eagles an opportunity to extend their lead with just over six minutes left in the game. As the final seconds of the advantage ticked away, Glaser found Newhook in the left circle, who dropped to one knee for a one-timer goal.
Newhook’s second tally of the game would be the final one, as the Eagles bled out the final minutes to sweep the weekend series in Maine.
