by: Michael Schuman
The University of Maine women’s hockey team battled to a weekend split with Hockey East opponents the Boston College Eagles and the Merrimack Warriors. Maine took a 4-0 loss to BC on Saturday, but rebounded to beat the Merrimack Warriors 2-1 on Sunday.
Maine shut out by No. 2 Boston College
The Maine Black Bears were kept off the scoreboard after an undefeated Boston College team overpowered Maine. For the Eagles, it was their first shutout of the season, winning the contest 4-0.
BC’s second-year goaltender Katie Burt made all 17 saves to keep the Black Bears in check, while Maine fifth-year goaltender Meghann Treacy made 48 saves while allowing four goals.
The Eagles provided plenty of offense, shooting the puck 52 times, outshooting the Black Bears 24-6 in the first period and then 20-1 in the second period.
All of the scoring was done by seniors, as BC fourth-year forward Haley Skarupa had a pair of breakaway goals in the contest, her 20th career multiple goal game.Fourth-years Meghan Grieves and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Eagles. For Carpenter, it was her ninth goal in six games.
The Black Bears only took 17 shots on goal, including 10 in the third period, the only period in which they outshot the Eagles. Third-year forward and leading scorer Audra Richards led Maine in shots on goal with four.
The Eagles would get on the board twice in the first period, scoring two goals in 49 seconds. The first came from Skarupa, who received a pass in the neutral zone and was able to sneak around the defense along the boards.
She cut towards the slot on a partial breakaway, and put the puck over the glove shoulder of Treacy to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.
Grieves would be the next Eagle to score just seconds later, when she was able to beat two defenders to the top of the circle in the offensive zone to get a clean shot off. The shot evaded the traffic in front of Treacy, and found its way into the back of the net.
The Eagles would take the 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
BC was back at it again halfway through the second, when Skarupa was able to get behind the defense and score on another breakaway.
Fourth-year forward Dana Trivigno won a puck battle in front of the benches and got a pass off to Skarupa who put the shot over Treacy’s glove again to increase BC’s lead to 3-0.
BC’s final goal would come off of two deflections, as a solid offensive cycle would lead to a shot from the high slot by fourth-year defenseman Lexi Bender. The shot was initially tipped by first-year forward Makenna Mewkirk, but that shot went wide where Carpenter was waiting to tip it into the net.
The Black Bears would bring the pressure with 10 shots on goal in the third, but Burt was there for the Eagles to preserve the shutout and the win.
For BC, it was their 26th straight regular season win versus Hockey East opponents, a streak that has lasted since Feb. 11, 2014.
Maine Finishes Weekend Series with Win at Merrimack
The Black Bears took to the ice at the Lawler Rink in North Andover to take on the Merrimack Warriors on Sunday. Merrimack is a new addition to Hockey East this season, but experience aided the Black Bears in a 2-1 win.
After allowing the initial goal in the first period, Treacy settled down to post two shutout frames, making 32 saves. Her counterpart, Warriors first-year goaltender Samantha Ridgewell made 20 saves while taking the loss.
The Black Bear offense was led by Richards and third-year forward Emilie Brigham, who peppered the net with six and three shots, respectively.
Despite the shot production by Richards and Brigham, second-year forward Catherine Tufts and fourth-year forward Abby Cook each scored goals for the Black Bears.
First-year forward Emily Volpe had the lone goal for Merrimack, while the shots on goal were more spread throughout the lines, as the Warriors outshot Maine 33-22
Merrimack would get on the board in the first two minutes of the first period, when Volpe would put the puck past Treacy to give her team an early 1-0 lead.
The rest of the period would remain highly contested, as the Black Bears would end up outshooting the Warriors 13-11 in the period, but Ridgewell would hold her ground to take the 1-0 lead into the intermission.
Maine carried their momentum into the second, when an early goal by Tufts would tie the game at one.
Despite being outshot in the period, the Black Bears would score again at the 12:30 mark in the second period. Cook would score her first goal of the season on a feed from first-year defenseman Cassidy Herman to make the score 2-1 Maine.
The third period would be a defensive affair, as only a total of eight combined shots made it on goal.
Each team would have the chance to go on the power play in the third, but neither team could score with the main advantage. Maine would end the game 0-3 on the power play, while the warriors would finish 0-4.
After the final whistle, Maine would hold on to a 2-1 lead to get their second conference win of the year.
Maine sits at 2-4 (2-2 WHEA,) while BC remains undefeated at 6-0 (2-0 WHEA.) Merrimack split their weekend series, and currently post a 1-5 (1-1 WHEA.) Maine is tied for first place in Hockey East with four points in four games, along with BC and Boston University.
Maine will return home to Alfond arena for their next home series versus Brown University on Oct. 23 and 24. Puck drops at 7 p.m. for both games.