Women's Ice Hockey vs. #9 Dartmouth

by Jeremy Binckes

Sure, Sunday’s game against Dartmouth Big Green (1-0-1, 0-0-0 ECAC) was exciting. It just didn’t end the way that the Terriers wanted it to end. That much was obvious. Point blank: Boston University (0-4-2, 0-1-0 Hockey East) could have won that game.

Fast forward to the third period. The Terriers were up 5-4, trying to hold on for the win. When Dartmouth sophomore forward Jenna Cunningham crossed the blue line with under 2:00 left to play, the game changed.

“It sure looked like [senior defender Amy Cobb was] offsides,” BU head coach Brian Durocher said after the game. “The whistle went to the linesman’s mouth, his arm went two-third of the way up, and he changed his mind.”

So, with no offside called, Cunningham, who had only sophomore goaltender Melissa Haber (50 saves) to beat, took the shot, and hit the back of the net to tie the game at 5.

“I thought the play was over,” Haber said of Cunningham’s goal. “I wasn’t ready for the shot.”

In the beginning of the game, a tie did not seem to be in the plan. The Terriers came out of the gate dominant, and would never trail. Sophomore forward Melissa Anderson got the Terriers off to a quick start by scoring two goals in the span of four minutes to give Boston a quick 2-0 lead, which they took into the second.

Anderson’s first goal (2) was a rebound pickup on Junior goaltender Carli Clemis’ (31 saves) doorstep, while her second one (3) was an impressive hard-angle shot that sailed between Celmis’ right pad and the pipes. Both were power-play goals.

But there were signs during the first period that something else was going on. Six penalties were called in the first period alone (BU 2, DAR 4), and as the game progressed, the players got more chippy.

In the second period, the Terriers’ momentum had dissipated. It could be seen partially in Dartmouth’s offense, which took more shots in the second than it had in the first. But it could be seen in the Terriers offense as well, which only attempted 9 shots in the second stanza. The Terriers found themselves struggling to get momentum.

Melissa Haber, who played well and set a Terrier record for saves in a game, fell victim to the Dartmouth barrage, twice. First, it was freshman Amanda Trunzo (1) who got a rebound on the doorstep and put it by Haber. Then, it was junior Sarah Newnam (1), who beat Haber 5-hole from outside of the right faceoff circle.

“Some of the goals were a little weak,” Haber said.

The Terriers responded with under just under 5 minutes left to play in the period when junior defender Amanda Shaw collected a pass from junior co-captain Gina Kearns on the left side and went top-shelf, off the crossbar to give the Terriers a 3-2 lead.

“I was going to go for the shot,” Shaw said, “and hopefully get the rebound.”

But in the third, the game began to fall apart. The penalties, which began as hooking and high-sticking, became body checking, interference, and hitting after the whistle.

Junior forward Laurel Koller (2) collected an unlikely goal by hitting a Dartmouth skate while passing out to the slot from behind the net, which gave the Terriers 2-goal lead, for the second time of the afternoon.

But six minutes into the third, Shaw was called for hitting after the whistle for her scuffle.

“Both teams were getting heated,” Shaw said. “They didn’t want to lose to an underdog, and we wanted to beat a nationally-ranked team. We started butting heads.”

Cunningham scored 7:48 into the third to shrink the Terriers’ lead to 1 goal.

Then, off of a draw to Haber’s near left, Cobb picked up the puck and buried it past Haber to tie the game at 4-4.

“I was far back in the crease,” Haber said.

A minute later, senior defender Julie Poulin scored on a rocket shot from the slot, which looked like it may have been redirected, to give the Terriers the 1-goal lead again.

Then came the play that angered coach Durocher.

With Clemis inching out of the net and under 2 minutes left to play, Cunningham crossed the blue line with the puck, perhaps behind Cobb. Cunningham’s teammates tackled her after scoring the tying goal.

After a scoreless extra frame, both teams left frustrated. The tie kept Dartmouth unbeaten this season, but also kept the Terriers from collecting their first win.

Terriers Notes:

- As mentioned, Haber broke the record for most saves in a game (50), topping the previous record of 45 held by junior Allyse Wilcox (2/11/06).

- Anderson fell one goal shy of a hat trick. The Terriers’ only hat trick in their history belongs to her line mate, junior Erin Seman, who scored three times in the season finale last year against Northeastern, a 6-2 victory.

- The Terriers’ next game will be this Thursday, November 1^st, as they host the University of New Hampshire Wildcats. The Wildcats are the only Hockey East opponent against whom the Terriers have yet to take a point, let alone beat. Tune in to WTBU radio at 6:40 for the pregame, with game time at 7 p.m.