GOAL BY GOAL: BC Women’s Hockey Falls 2-1 To Northeastern

For four consecutive games, the Eagles found themselves trailing in the third quarter. In the first three of those contests, the Eagles were able to storm back, taking the win in two and earning a 4-4 draw after trailing 4-1 in the other.

But Friday afternoon, they went to the well one too many times. Northeastern went up 2-0 in the third period and was able to hold off the Eagles, 2-1.

Northeastern Goal #1 (SHG): 9:42 of the 2nd period
Shelby Herrington (Maddie Hartman, Paige Savage)

NU 1, BC 0

BC and Northeastern last faced off on Tuesday in the Beanpot Championship, and the game played out in a pretty similar fashion on Friday. Like Tuesday, the game started out scoreless for a long time, until Northeastern was able to break through first — this time, in the second period.

BC was on the power play, and just prior to the faceoff, Northeastern forced an offensive zone draw by forcing Katie Burt to cover the puck on a harmless dump in. It turned out to be not so harmless — all Northeastern did was take the draw, fire the puck in from deep, and find a deflection, and they had themselves a lead despite BC having all the momentum.

Northeastern Goal #2 (GWG): 3:22 of the 3rd period
Andrea Renner (Shelby Herrington, McKenna Brand)

NU 2, BC 0

The Eagles couldn’t tie it up before the end of the first, but they found themselves in a deeper hole early in the second period. Northeastern centers the puck frombehind the goal line and Katie Burt can’t get a clean cover on the puck.

Andrea Renner hacks away repeatedly at the loose puck, and she’s finally able to get the puck past Burt. Not good for the Eagles.

Boston College Goal #3 (PPG): (7:16 of the 3rd period)
Caitrin Lonergan (Katie Burt)

NU 2, BC 1 — FINAL

But BC did give themselves a chance. A power play midway through the third period put the Eagles on the advantage, and they were able to convert on a bit of a fluky goal.

Caitrin Lonergan took the pass up ice from goaltender Katie Burt (who earned the only assist on the goal), and just threw the puck into the center of the ice. It takes a lucky bounce right off a Northeastern defender and somehow finds its way into the back of the net.

The Eagles put themselves in a good position to tie the game, and dominated the rest of the period, but couldn’t find the equalizer despite a bevy of chances being thrown at Northeastern’s Brittany Bugalski.

The loss really throws a wrench in BC’s hopes to climb up into a more secure home ice spot in the Pairwise. The Eagles fell to 5th, which would actually require them to travel for the NCAA quarterfinals, though the teams in front of them have a difficult road through the end of the regular season.

The Eagles have three regular season games left, and will probably need to win them all to put themselves in position to earn home ice for the NCAA tournament with a successful Hockey East title defense. Next up for the Eagles is showdown with Vermont on 2pm Sunday. The Catamounts actually sit in the top 15 of the Pairwise, so this won’t be a walk in the park for BC.