BC Women’s Hockey Stumbles Into The Break With 2-1 Loss To Boston University

Boston College Women’s Hockey had a much better night than they did on Friday, where they were blown out 6-0 at the hands of Boston University, but “better” isn’t going to get it done when you still take the loss. The Eagles were in the game until the final buzzer in this one, but in the end it was a 2-1 loss for the Eagles to go into the break on a 3 game losing streak.

Both teams had their chances in the first period, but neither could break through for a goal in the opening frame. It took until the second period for either team to find a score, and it was the Terriers that went up 1-0. BC forward Savannah Norcross was called for a questionable five-and-game midway through the game, and that really killed BC’s chances. Not only did the Terriers score on the power play, but it put the Eagles down a fourth skater — with Hannah Bilka, Hadley Hartmetz, and senior captain Erin Connolly all missing from the lineup already due to injury — for the rest of the game. That left BC with just 14 skaters, and the effects of having such a short bench really started being felt as the game went on.

The Eagles just looked exhausted at times, and it was something akin to a miracle that they were able to tie the game up on a power play goal by Kelly Browne midway through the third period. But a BC penalty shortly after gave the Terriers another power play goal to make it 2-1, and the Eagles’ heavy legs couldn’t carry them to much of a comeback effort as the minutes wound down.

The loss brings a merciful end to the first half, the latter part of which was not kind to the Eagles. BC is on a 3 game losing streak and four game winless streak, is 1-5-1 in their last 7 and 2-6-1 in their last 9. They’re still in the NCAA tournament hunt thanks to their strong start, but only barely, but more concerning is their inability to get wins over tournament-contending teams.

Playing with a short bench this weekend probably made things worse than they were, but the losses are there nonetheless. BC will get a few weeks off before taking on Harvard on New Years’ Eve, and then another couple weeks before taking on #3 Northeastern in a home-and-home.