Women's hockey needs to get back on the rails against Holy Cross

01/24/2025 04:30 PM

The Boston University women's hockey team is at a tipping point: a historic season-to-season turnaround is at risk of hitting a rut. 

Since the turn of the second half of the season, the Terriers (14-8-1, 11-4-1 Hockey East) haven't played up to first-semester form. The team lost to cellar-dwelling Vermont on Jan. 11. Then, they faced a shut-out against two-win Harvard until the game's final minutes in the Beanpot semifinal. A 2-0 shutout at New Hampshire on Saturday set up a potentially back-breaking 4-0 Beanpot championship loss to Northeastern at TD Garden.

The good news for the Terriers is they have the ultimate get-right series against second-to-last-place Holy Cross — a team BU already downed 3-0 this month. But the bad news is that the Crusaders (7-13-3, 3-11-3 HEA) are parasites who love to take advantage of the Terriers at their lowest points. 

For example, after last year's Beanpot championship loss to Northeastern, the Terriers were swept by last-place Holy Cross before the Crusaders eliminated them in the opening round of the playoffs. 

It may seem over-dramatic to tell a team near the top of Hockey East's standings its season is on the line this weekend, but two wins are an absolute necessity to put this runaway train back on the tracks.

"How do we keep generating that belief in ourselves because we’re a good hockey team," head coach Tara Watchorn reiterated after Tuesday's Beanpot defeat. "There’s a lot of season left, and how do we take from all those experiences and put them down the back half?"

Puck drop for Friday's game in Worcester is set for 6 p.m., while Saturday's game at the new-look Walter Brown Arena will start at 4:00 p.m. 

Here is how these two teams stack up by three numbers:

243 minutes, 24 seconds since BU scored a five-on-give goal

The Terriers haven't scored a five-on-five goal in nearly four games — since the opening seconds of their game against Vermont on Jan. 11.

It hasn't been a secret that BU is more of a defensive team than an offensive one. Watchorn said it before the season even started. The defense has often kept the Terriers alive throughout the season, but when the scoring is completely absent, no amount of defense can win a game.

Early in the season, freshman Lola Reid emerged as a player who could provide that much-needed spark for the offense. The standout forward recorded 13 points in her first 10 collegiate games. Since then, Reid hasn't found the scoresheet. She has dropped down to the fourth line and didn't play a single shift in the third period of the Beanpot championship.

In a similar fashion, senior Clara Yuhn, a top-three point leader last season, scored five goals in five games last semester and has disappeared since. 

Graduate defender Julia Shaunessy and senior Christina Vote are top play-makers with 27 assists shared between the two, but play-making can only take a team so far when there is no one to finish the play.

Lindsay Bochna, Sydney Healey and Riley Walsh can score a goal here and there, while captain Tamara Giaquinto adds production from the defensive end. But none of these players can bear the weight of the offense by themselves. 

The Terriers have only made minor tweaks to the line chart in the past three games. In the third period, Watchorn began to mix and match lines. Some sort of chemistry or a player stepping up is a need for BU.

49 days since BU last allowed a power-play goal

Speaking of BU being a stout defensive team, the Terriers own the third-best penalty kill percentage in the entire NCAA at .899. The team has only allowed seven power-play goals all season — three of which came in one bad game against Princeton. 

It has been 49 days since BU last allowed a power-play goal, which came against Maine on Dec. 6. While the stat is slightly skewed considering the mid-season break occurred in that time frame, it has still been an impressive six games and 18 penalties killed off. 

Holy Cross had seven chances at the man advantage the last time these two teams faced off, including a five-minute major. The Crusaders squandered each one. 

On the other end of special teams, the Terriers are in the top half of the NCAA in power-play conversion with a goal in about one of every five opportunities. On the other hand, Holy Cross sits in the latter half at about a one-in-10 clip.

45.5%-win percentage against Holy Cross since the Covid-shortened season

Holy Cross has gotten the better of the Terriers in recent years. BU has only won five of the last 11 meetings since the COVID-shortened season, despite being the better team by record.

You have to look back to the 2021-22 season to find the last time BU won the Turnpike Trophy and the 2019-20 season to find the last time the Terriers swept the Crusaders.

Following a 3-0 win against Holy Cross earlier this month, the Terriers have the chance to check off both this weekend.

The Crusader’s offense is cycled through sophomore forward Emily Crovo, who has recorded six goals and 10 assists — the leader on the team in both. Crovo's 16 points rank her 10th in Hockey East, ahead of anyone on BU.

The Holy Cross offense is multi-faceted with 17 goal scorers on the season, and 11 with multiple goals. As a whole, the offense is underwhelming with the third-least goals in Hockey East, scoring under two goals per game. 

In net, the Crusaders have sent four goaltenders into the crease. However, the lion's share of starts have gone to Abby Hornung. The junior ranks third in save percentage in Hockey East and eighth in the NCAA with a save percentage of .937. 

Hornung started against BU a few weeks ago and allowed three goals on 27 shots.