Holy Cross is really not very good, so you would expect Boston College Women’s Hockey to pretty much coast to a win. The good news is, they actually did that! The Eagles scored early and often against the Crusaders to cruise to a 6-0 victory at Conte Forum, earning their first shutout since November and taking the win in the biggest blowout they’ve had so far this season.
Boston College Goal #1 (GWG): 11:20 of the 1st period
Daryl Watts (Kali Flanagan)
BC 1, HC 0
This game would feature plenty of, well, sub-optimal goaltending, but the Daryl Watts started the scoring for the Eagles with one of the prettiest plays of the year. Watts splits a pair of defenders who don’t do nearly enough to disrupt the defending Patty Kazmaier Award winner on her way through, giving Watts a clean look at the goaltender.
She goes forehand to backhand and slots the puck through the the skate and the post to put BC up 1-0.
Boston College Goal #2: 11:51 of the 1st period
Serena Sommerfield (Kelly Browne, Cayla Barnes)
BC 2, HC 0
Goal number two for BC is one that makes the goaltender look silly, but there’s really nothing she can do.
Serena Sommerfield gets herself into a nice spot to shoot inside the faceoff dot, and she one-times the shot in on net. Unfortunately for the goalie, the puck takes one deflection off the closest defender (which is why the goalie is going down and to her right while the puck goes up and to her left), then takes another deflection off the shoulder of the defender outside the crease, and slowly and painfully bloops up and over for the score to make it 2-0 BC.
Boston College Goal #3: 13:34 of the 2nd period
Lindsay Agnew (Daryl Watts, Serena Sommerfield)
BC 3, HC 0
On to the second period with the Eagles already holding the multi-goal lead, and hey would extend that advantage early.
Sommerfield takes the initial shot from the point which goes wide and takes a bounce off the active boards. Jada Brenon, in net, comes out to try and push the puck wide, but it’s out of her reach. That leaves her out of position, and with Watts on the doorstep to send the puck back through the crease, all Agnew has to do it tap the puck into the open net for the goal.
Boston College Goal #4: 15:21 of the 2nd period
Ryan Little (Kali Flanagan, Cayla Barnes)
BC 4, HC 0
This is a goal that really gives you a good idea of how Holy Cross, as a newly-minted fully-division-1 program, is just not quite at the level they need to be in Hockey East just yet.
BC is far too quick for the defender to try and corral the puck lazily with her skate the way she does, and when she’s unsuccessful, Ryan Little jumps the play immediately and the defender has no chance whatsoever to prevent the breakaway. Little rifles home the goal to make it 4-0, and the rout is on.
Boston College Goal #5: 18:48 of the 2nd period
Kelly Browne (Caitrin Lonergan, Serena Sommerfield)
BC 5, HC 0
This is the first goal that’s truly on the goaltender. Regardless of that, Lonergan and Browne to a great job to set up the play to give BC a shot from a high-percentage scoring area, so it’s not like the Eagles didn’t earn it.
Lonergan powers through the neutral zone and across the blue line along the boards with Browne trailing and going right between the circles. Lonergan’s back pass hits the stick, and with the puck fluttering, Brown doesn’t manage to get a full-strength shot on it, but that goes to her advantage. It comes in on Brenon as a change-up, and she can’t get a glove on it, making it 5-0 BC.
Boston College Goal #6 (TD): 13:37 of the 3rd period
Caitrin Lonergan (Kelly Browne, Kali Flanagan)
BC 6, HC 0 — FINAL
Avert your eyes, goalies and goalie parents!
This is SportsCenter Not Top Ten worthy from new goalie Julia Pelletier, who probably wants all evidence of this goal erased from the internet. Lonergan’s poke through the defenders has too much heat on it for her to catch up, and it comes in harmlessly on the goaltender. Pelletier goes to stick the puck away, but not to the boards and certainly not away from the shooter — instead, she passes it perfectly onto the stick of Lonergan, who just has to slide the puck through for the touchdown and the final goal of the game.
This game went exactly as you would have expected it to have gone against a team with only one win on the season, which in itself is a pleasant fact. BC seems to have its offense back to what it was earlier in the season when they won 12 out of 13 games, and getting the shutout — even against Holy Cross — is encouraging for the defense.
Unfortunately for BC, thanks to the quirks of the Pairwise, the Eagles dropped from 7th to 9th and out of an NCAA tournament at-large position, thanks to BU’s win over Vermont flipping the Common Opponents comparison with the Terriers, despite BC’s significantly higher RPI than either team that passed them. The difference mostly comes from BU’s 1-0 record (1.000 winning percentage) against New Hampshire, with BC at 0-1 (0.000 winning %) against those same Wildcats. The Eagles take on UNH on Friday, so a win in that game would re-flip the comparison and put the Eagles back into 7th. The Pairwise is weird.
Which brings us to BC’s next game — Beanpot Tuesday! The Eagles will take on Harvard in the Beanpot semifinals at Harvard’s rink at 8pm Tuesday night, with the game being televised on NESNPlus. Welcome to Trophy Season!