Halfway through the second period of Boston College women’s hockey’s game against Merrimack on Friday, the Eagles gave up their second penalty of the game. Leading 1–0, BC needed to maintain its lead.
The Eagles successfully dominated the penalty kill, winning the faceoff and not allowing a single shot.
Mastery over the special teams was especially present in BC’s game plan against the visiting Warriors. The Eagles didn’t give up a single goal on two penalty kills, and notched the game-sealing goal on a power play during the second frame.
“I think we had a really good game today, our [defense] were so good and soaking pucks all game, made my life easy,” BC goaltender Grace Campbell said.
Goals from Sammy Taber, Gaby Roy, and Katie Pyne, coupled with a lock-down performance from Campbell, propelled BC (4–4–1, 4–0–1 Hockey East) to a 3–0 win over Merrimack (4–5–1, 1–3–1).
“When things started to get a little wonky, I thought we were able to make it not wonky,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said. “Overall, I thought it was a really good game for us.”
The contest featured a sporadic, physical start as each team tried to gain an edge. Pyne had a great wrist shot just 1:30 into the game, and BC started to attack the Merrimack goal. Morgan Trimper almost scored three minutes in, but her shot tipped over by Warriors goaltender Calli Hogarth.
BC controlled the puck and the pace of play for the first five minutes of the affair, but Merrimack almost snuck one home in the fifth minute when the puck fell loose in front of the Eagles’ net. The scramble did not result in a goal for Merrimack despite the easy gift from the Eagles’ backline.
Taber opened the scoring at the 7:16 mark with a wrist shot over the shoulder of Hogarth into the top-left corner of the net, putting the Eagles up 1–0.
“I saw space going in, and Coach always tells me to use my speed and go around,” Taber said. “I think I finally did that and capitalized.”
The Eagles notched a power play late in the 12th minute after Natalie Nemes got booked for hooking, but they failed to score on the man advantage.
Merrimack had a chance to respond with a power play at 16:29 for hooking against Abby Newhook, but BC’s defense put up a fortress and did not give up a goal. BC ended the first period up 1–0.
Campbell fetched two saves to start the second period, which turned out to be a smooth frame with minimal stoppages—the first faceoff came in the seventh minute.
Merrimack went on the power play at the 8:15 mark after Arnone got booked for interference. The Warriors looked to equalize, but, once again, the Eagles’ defense excelled in the defensive zone and denied their opponents of an equalizer.
BC then landed a power play of its own 11 minutes into the second frame. After being up a player for over a minute, BC produced a 5-on-3 advantage after the Warriors received a body checking penalty.
Roy doubled the Eagles’ lead during the two-man-up advantage with a tap-in on the left side of the net after an across-the-goal pass from Arnone.
“I’ve been really happy with the way the power play has gone,” Crowley said. “Looks like we had 14 shots on the power play which is probably a high for us. We don’t usually have that many shots.”
The Eagle dominated the rest of the period. They ended the second up 2–0 and led in shots 18–12.
Five minutes into the third frame, Roy almost snatched another goal after she attempted a snipe off of a rebound. But it sailed straight into Hogarth’s pads.
Halfway through the third period, the Eagles registered another power play after Ryleigh Horlock got booked for tripping. The Eagles pressured the Warriors’ backline but failed to score.
Merrimack added its fifth penalty of the game 12 minutes into the third frame, but the score remained at 2–0 until Pyne scored an empty-net goal to secure the 3–0 win.
“It’s been good growth from week to week, we talk about things in video, they change it, they listen and they want to get better,” Crowley said. “The beginning of the season is learning those little things that will help you be successful and the team is doing a great job of responding.”
