Coming off a 5–4 overtime win against Maine on Sunday, Boston College women’s hockey traveled to Worcester for an afternoon matchup against No. 13 Holy Cross, looking to maintain its momentum.
The Eagles’ special teams carried the day, leading them to an upset victory.
BC (13–15–1, 11–7–1 Hockey East) rode three power-play goals and a 5-of-6 penalty kill to come from behind and take down the Crusaders (18–8–3, 10–7–3) 4–3. Olivia Maffeo led the way with her second straight two-goal performance.
Holy Cross’ defense came to play early, holding the Eagles to just one shot on goal in the first 10:33. After Ava Thomas and Lulu Rourke traded penalties, the Crusaders took advantage of the 4-on-4 as Alexia Moreau cleaned up a rebound to put Holy Cross ahead 1–0.
It didn’t take long for BC to equalize the score. After Thomas drew a penalty to give BC a power play, Maffeo continued her hot streak. Maffeo pocketed a rebound of her own to tie the game at 1–1 with 6:07 left in the frame.
Emily Mara was called for a penalty as the period drew to a close, but the two teams went to the break tied at one. For BC, this was largely thanks to a standout performance from Grace Campbell, who saved 12 shots and ensured that the 13–4 shot advantage Holy Cross earned didn’t hurt the scoreboard.
Mara headed right back to the box just 2:22 into the second, but once again, Campbell stood strong. She made four saves over the ensuing two minutes, including some grade-A stops, to kill off the third Eagle penalty of the day.
Momentum finally seemed to shift in BC’s favor after defenseman Madelyn Murphy drew a holding call against Holy Cross’ Manny Gendron 6:48 into the second. This time, Crusader netminder Brooke Loranger was forced to stand tall, facing her first flurry of BC shots of the game.
Over the next five minutes, Loranger had to make eight saves to keep things knotted at one. She finally got relief when BC was called for its fourth penalty of the game with 6:04 left in the frame.
The Eagles’ defense showed up yet again, with the best scoring opportunity of the power play actually coming on a 2-on-1 chance for BC. Back-and-forth action ensued for the remainder of the period, but neither side was able to draw blood as the score remained 1–1 heading into the third.
The second period was a goaltending clinic from Loranger and Campbell, who had 18 and 27 saves, respectively, through 40 minutes. In the second period, they made 15 saves each.
But the score didn’t stay tied for long. Just 36 seconds into the third, Violet Carroll walked into the slot and ripped a wrist shot bardown to put the Crusaders on top 2–1.
The Crusaders continued to pressure, drawing BC’s sixth penalty of the day from Maffeo. The Eagles’ defense held strong for the full two minutes, but right as Maffeo was getting let out of the box, Amanda Aslan slid the puck through the five-hole to make it 3–1 with 14:58 to play.
From there, the Eagles showed why they say a two-goal lead is the worst in hockey.
With the pressure on, BC responded. After a delay of game penalty taken by Holy Cross’ Reghan Chadwick, BC’s second power-play unit made the Crusaders pay, as Lauren Glaser notched her fifth goal of the season for the Eagles’ second power-play goal of the day.
With 6:48 left in the third, BC’s power play got one last chance to shine, and shine it did.
With just seven seconds left with the man-up advantage, defenseman Jade Arnone sniped her second goal of the season with 3:56 left in the game, forcing overtime for the second game in a row.
Thomas got BC’s first great overtime look on a breakaway, but Loranger stopped it with an outstretched pad. On that same shift, Thomas was stopped point-blank again after receiving a pass from Murphy on a 2-on-1.
Maffeo made sure the Eagles would go home happy. She grabbed the puck 3:38 into the extra period and cruised into the slot, ripping home a wrist shot above Loranger’s blocker for the game-winning goal, giving BC a 4–3 victory and its second overtime win in the last seven days.
