BU women's hockey beats Holy Cross 3-0 in return to Walter Brown Arena
01/25/2025 06:13 PM
The long-awaited return to Walter Brown Arena has been circled on the calendar for the Boston University women's hockey team since the renovations were announced.
On Saturday, the Terriers (16-8-1, 13-4-1 Hockey East) played like they couldn't wait any longer, dismantling Holy Cross (7-15-3, 3-13-2 HE), 3-0.
After sweeping the Crusaders, BU, at worst, will leave the weekend tied for the Hockey East lead with UConn. The Terriers are three points clear of second-place Boston College with a game in hand. The Battle of Comm. Ave. resumes on Friday at Walter Brown Arena.
Here are three takeaways from the victory, plus how it happened.
BU played a full 60 minutes
After losing in the Beanpot final against Northeastern at TD Garden on Tuesday, the Terriers responded with two quality performances against Holy Cross.
On Saturday in particular, BU was excellent in all areas of the ice for a large portion of the game. The Terriers controlled play in their offensive zone for extended stretches and buckled down on the defensive end.
BU outshot the Crusaders 37-15 in the win, which was one of its better performances of the season.
Special teams shined for the Terriers
Both the power play and the penalty kill proved to be critical for BU on Saturday afternoon.
Entering Saturday's game, the Terriers were converting 18.6 percent of the time on the player advantage. In the win against Holy Cross, BU potted two power play goals on five attempts. Head coach Tara Watchorn skated out several different units, and multiple were successful.
On the penalty kill, however, the Terriers have been excellent all season. Entering Saturday, they ranked third nationally at 90.3 percent. The kill was tested against the Crusaders, but BU killed off all seven Holy Cross power plays.
Mari Pietersen was excellent once again
The sophomore netminder was at peak form on Friday, recording a 25-save shutout, the first of her collegiate career.
Riding the hot hand, Watchorn elected to start Pietersen again on Saturday, and it paid off.
She recorded her second consecutive shutout, stopping all 15 shots she faced.
In only her seventh start of the season, Pietersen looked as comfortable in her crease as ever before. She made clean, timely saves and displayed solid rebound control.
How it happened:
Senior captain Emma Min was sent off for interference at 14:37. BU opened the scoring on the power play at 15:16 of the first. Senior blueliner Maggie Hanzel fired a pass to graduate captain Tamara Giaquinto, who blasted a one-timer past junior goalie Brooke Loranger from above the left circle.
Junior forward Clara Yuhn extended the Terrier lead at 17:32 of the opening frame. From behind the goal line, sophomore forward Alex Law found Yuhn open at the top of the slot. Yuhn rifled a wrister over Loranger's glove to give BU a 2-0 advantage.
After senior forward Michela Lio was called for a high stick, BU scored a second power-play goal at 11:21 of the second. Senior forward Christina Vote carried the puck into the offensive zone and dropped it to graduate forward Lindsay Bochna. Bochna beat Loranger with a wrister to give the Terriers a 3-0 lead.
