It didn’t take long for Boston College women’s hockey to score its first goal against No. 15 Northeastern. In fact, it only took 49 seconds.
After a penalty against the Huskies for having too many players on the ice, BC had its first power play opportunity 35 seconds into the matchup. Gaby Roy took advantage, as she slotted the puck into the lower-right-hand corner of Northeastern’s net, giving BC an early 1–0 lead.
It didn’t seem like things could get any better for the Eagles in the early minutes of the matchup, but they did when BC tacked on another goal off a Tricia Piku cannon a minute later.
After losing to the Huskies in the first round of the Beanpot several weeks ago, it seemed like this game was BC’s chance at redemption.
But it wasn’t.
Shortly into overtime, the Huskies (19–11–1, 14–9–1 Hockey East) narrowly inched past the Eagles (18–12–1, 14–9–1), clinching a 5–4 victory over their Hockey East opponent.
“We just came up short,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said. “In the end, I don’t think we were quite high enough to play against the net in overtime, and they’re really trying to get us in the standings. I liked our fight in the third, and I liked that we were able to come back and tie it.”
What started as smooth sailing soon turned into a game of catch-up for BC. Whenever the Eagles made a play, the Huskies did the same thing minutes later—and did it better.
A little less than five minutes after BC’s first goal, Northeastern put its first points on the board and was just getting started.
While BC ended the first period with a 2–1 lead, that advantage vanished, as the Huskies knotted the score with a power-play goal three minutes into the second frame.
It wasn’t until 9:45 into the second period when Northeastern finally took the lead from BC off an Éloïse Caron goal. Going into the third frame, the Huskies had all the momentum in their favor.
Once a Sammy Taber goal tied the game 4–4 just under seven minutes into the final period, it seemed like BC might pull off a revenge win.
“You know, it’s a feisty game, it’s a battle,” Crowley said. “We know it’s going to be a battle with them, and we have to be ready to try and just weather the storm and stay here and not get too high or too low.”
One minute into overtime, Lily Shannon snuck the puck past Grace Campbell, and the Huskies rushed to celebrate. When asked about her team’s defensive performance, Crowley kept it simple.
“I liked the way we were protecting our goalie,” Crowley said. “We stood tall there a few times and made sure that Grace didn’t get there too many times.”
But at the end of the day, that defense wasn’t good enough as BC suffered its fourth loss in five games.
“That game on Sunday is going to be whoever’s recovered the best from today,” Crowley said. “We have some bumps and bruises, but we’ll get through it and push forward for Sunday.”
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