BC Women’s Hockey Overwhelmed By Ohio State 3-1, Ending Season

Boston College Women’s Hockey came into tonight’s NCAA quarterfinal with Ohio State as a pretty heavy underdog, but there was still that feeling that the Eagles, who spent most of the season finding a way to win games, would be able to put up a fight against the WCHA’s Buckeyes. That was true for a little while, but while the Eagles held an early lead, it was Ohio State that took over the game over the final two periods on their way to a 3-1 win over the Eagles, ending BC’s season and advancing the Buckeyes to the Frozen Four.

The game started with a high level of physicality, and that really seemed to benefit Boston College in the opening 20 minutes. Shot totals were low at just 5 apiece, but it was the Eagles who had the better chances, for the most part. Eventually it was BC who got on the scoreboard first with a quick wrist shot from Savannah Norcross halfway through the period, giving the Eagles the 1-0 lead.

BC fans were feeling pretty good during that first intermission, but unfortunately, that would be the high-water mark of the game for the Eagles. From that point on, Ohio State dominated possession and outshot the Eagles 43-8 over the final two periods — freaking yikes — but despite that, the Eagles stayed in the game for quite some time.

It wasn’t until there were just three minutes and change remaining in the second period that the Buckeyes found the tying goal to make it 1-1, and they followed it up with another goal with 36 seconds to play in the second period to take the lead at 2-1 going into the second intermission. BC goalie Abbey Levy put her team on her shoulders in the second in which the Eagles were outshot a whopping 27-4, but the Buckeyes broke through in the end.

BC got things slightly more evened out in the third, but Ohio State still strongly controlled possession and the Eagles struggled to get opportunities to tie the game. Finally, the Buckeyes scored a third goal with 6 and a half minutes to play that proved to be the dagger, and 3-1 was your final.

Boston College played pretty well this season relative to expectations, finishing a clear second in Hockey East behind juggernaut Northeastern, knocking off the top ranked Huskies during the regular season and advancing to the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid. This was roughly the midway point in BC’s rebuild, and the Eagles should really take a step forward next year with only one senior graduating and an elite freshman class joining the team. Hopefully a new year and a fresh start with things more back to normal will allow the Eagles to make that next step.