Terriers’ Aggressiveness Short Circuits Lightning

by Kai Barner

Final score: Boston University Terriers – 7, Durham Jr. Lightning – 1

Not bad, but not unexpected.

The Terriers are a quality Division I college program, while the Junior Lightning are made up of high school-aged players. Not to say that the Junior Lightning are a bunch of slouches though, because that’s far from true: they play in the competitive Provincial Women’s Hockey League in Canada and BU’s own sophomore defenseman Tara Watchorn (’12) – who played in all 36 games last year and tallied six goals and 10 assists on her way to Hockey East All-Rookie and Second Team All-Star honors – is a product of the Junior Lightning’s program. But that doesn’t change the fact that one could safely steer a freighter through the overall talent gap between the two squads.

Goals by Period: BU is up 1-0 at the end of the first, teams traded goals in the second, BU goes off for five more scores in the third.

Not a surprise, as the Lightning were already fatigued and it was inevitable that they would wear down.

They were in New Hampshire just a day earlier for a game against the UNH Wildcats, who are the reigning seven-time Hockey East regular season champions, have won five straight Hockey East tournament titles, and were once again ranked at the top of the preseason Hockey East coaches’ poll this past Tuesday. Between that game and the trip down to Boston, there’s no way the Lightning showed up at Walter Brown fully charged.

In addition, head coach Brian Durocher had mixed up the lines a bit, matching each of his freshmen with veteran linemates to help them get up to speed. It naturally took a little time for the new line combinations to feel themselves out and create some chemistry.


Total Shots on Goal: BU – 51, Durham – 7

That is not a misprint – I made sure to ask two people after the game to verify that I was reading the scoreboard correctly.

That disparity right there is about as close to complete domination as it gets in hockey. Granted I did just say that the Lightning had to have been fatigued coming into the game, but how were the mismatched Terrier lines able to dominate the game so completely? They put up 51 shots on target and 104 shots total, while holding the Lightning to just 7 shots on target and 11 shots total. How did the Terriers deliver a performance like this while breaking in six freshmen skaters? As it turns out, I actually gave you the answer earlier.

The Answer:

Talent gap!

Well… no, not quite. Talent counts for nothing if you don’t apply it. You can talk to my good friends the San Jose Sharks about that. Maybe this will finally be the year when they win the Stanley Cup, reach the Stanley Cup Finals, reach the Western Conference Finals. Keep looking farther up for the answer.

Aggressiveness!

That’s right, hiding up there in the title is the answer to how the Terriers were able to fully dominate this game from start to finish. Between their unrelenting forecheck and brutally efficient backcheck, they dictated play for all 60 minutes of the game – even while on the penalty kill.

Take out the Lightning’s goal 15 seconds into their first power play when Gillian Morgan’s shot from the right circle just snuck by BU senior goalie Ashley Leichliter ('10). The other three Terrier penalty kills were nothing short of exceptional. Of those, the first one didn’t allow a single shot, but those last two were in a league of their own.

On those two shorthanded series, the Terriers penalty kill unit went beyond, 'we’re not going to let you into our zone' to, 'we’re not even going to let you out of your zone,' only letting up to change lines or once they had drawn a matching penalty. When those experienced upperclassmen show the aggression, will power, and killer instinct to successfully sustain a forecheck while shorthanded, there’s no question that attitude – that confidence – is rubbing off on the freshmen.

The whole team came out looking like they had something to prove, and while it was hardly a flawless performance (failing to convert in 1:31 of a 5-on-3? Really?) I was very impressed by what they showed. There was junior forward Jillian Kirchner’s ('11) slick backhand wrapped around the near post to open the scoring. There was junior forward Lauren Cherewyk’s ('11) two goals about 3:40 apart coming on nearly identical shots from just about the exact same spot on the ice. But the highlight of the afternoon was easily those penalty kills.

Closing Thought:

The aggressiveness and swagger that they played with cemented in my mind that this Boston University women’s ice hockey team can go as far as it wants to if it can stay healthy. Talent is there from the seniors all the way down to the freshmen, and the experience gained from last year’s wins over Mercyhurst, at UNH, at BC, and in the first round of the Hockey East tournament will serve them well moving forward. The only remaining ingredient is aggressive desire – anyone can say that they want something, but are they willing to go out and do what is necessary to take it?

On June 12 of this year, the Pittsburgh Penguins went into Joe Louis Arena and walked back out with a Stanley Cup that many had already declared to be the property of the Detroit Red Wings. That team did what it needed to take what it wanted. These Terriers will have to do the same. UNH will not easily relinquish its position at the top, and for that matter BC and Providence and the rest of the conference will not willingly step aside either.

I forgot to mention earlier the final score of the Durham Jr. Lightning’s exhibition game against UNH: the Wildcats won 13-0 and outshot the Lightning 59-5. UNH scored more goals and recorded more shots on net than the Terriers did, and against a Lightning team that was presumably fresher. As close as BU was to total domination, UNH was even closer. The Terriers will once again have their work cut out for them this year, that’s for sure.

Can they pull it off?

I think so.

But will they pull it off?

It’s up to them – how badly do they want it?