BOSTON, MASS. – A scoring frenzy within the first four minutes of the second period of No. 12 Boston College women’s hockey’s matchup against cross-town rival No. 13 Boston University established high tensions between the familiar foes.
Just 21 seconds into the second period, a tripping penalty called on Molly Jordan led to a BU power play. The advantage ended 54 seconds later, though, after Sydney Healey’s shot gave the Terriers their first goal of the game, floating the puck above the right pad of Grace Campbell to knot the score at 1–1.
It didn’t take long for BC to answer right back and reestablish its lead, though, as Jordan tidied up the crease with a rebound goal—only for BU’s defenseman Julia Shaunessy to respond with a top-right snipe from the blue line to make it 2–2 just 90 seconds later.
The game remained in gridlock until BC (9–3–0, 6–1–0 Hockey East) topped the game off with a Julia Pellerin goal to hand the Eagles a 3–2 win in overtime fashion over BU (9–4–1, 7–2–1) on Friday night.
The tone of the rivalry tilt was set early after Kate Ham quietly snuck a shot under BU goaltender Callie Shanahan’s glove to give the Eagles a 1–0 lead just over five minutes into the game.
BC stayed in control of the first period, generating quality shots under back-to-back power plays.
Although not gaining extra comfort with a second goal, BC headed into intermission winning loose puck battles and beating the icing whistles.
The script flipped in the second after back-and-forth scoring allowed the Terriers to gain back confidence against their rival, knotting the game at 2–2.
It wasn’t until the final minutes of the period when the Eagles came flying through the zone with tic-tac-toe flow just to be denied by Shanahan and her right pad.
A small scuffle following the save put the squads on edge entering the third period.
Both teams had entered the game with their previous losses coming in early October, further raising the stakes of the third period.
A surge of shots on BU’s offensive side shifted the tide within the first five minutes of the final frame.
Neither team could find the back of the net in the remaining minutes of the third, leading to an extra period of sudden-death hockey.
The 3-on-3 overtime opened up the ice for coast-to-coast opportunities from both teams, and it only took 76 seconds for a winner to be decided.
Pellerin picked up a loose puck along the boards and carried it across the middle, executing a slick deke beneath Shaunessy to sneak a five-hole backhand and secure the Eagles’ eighth straight victory.
