Hockey East Roundup: Oct. 10-15, 2024

It was a weekend for history making in Hockey East. Win streaks ended, first time victories over certain opponents, and stellar goaltending from some familiar names highlight the happenings in the conference. Plus, a surprising name at the top of the leaderboard after week one. Let’s check it out. 

Holy Cross Takes Down Boston College for the First Time Ever

Thursday: Holy Cross 4, BC 1
Saturday: BC 5, Holy Cross 1

The Crusaders have been in Hockey East since 2018, and since then there are two schools in the conference that the program has yet to beat in a game. 

Well, now it’s just one school, since Holy Cross took down BC for the first time on Friday. 

The contest from all accounts was primarily dominated by BC, who had 29 shots to Holy Cross’ 17. Tricia Piku scored to open the game two minutes into the contest, but the Crusaders tied it on their first shot of the night thanks to Lane Lewis. From there, it was fairly back and forth, with stretches of time controlled by either team. 

In the second period, it was defender Hannah Deck who notched the first power play goal of the game for HC, thanks to a one-timer off a feed from Alexia Moreau. The goal would stand as the game-winner, and Deck earned Hockey East Army ROTC Defender of the Week for the effort. 

The PP goals were the main difference in Friday’s game, with the Crusaders going 2-for-4 on the advantage while BC was 0-for-2. Emily Crovo scored on the advantage in the third period, and Kaitlin Sullivan rounded out the scoring with an even strength tally with under eight minutes to play.

Saturday was a good rebound for the Eagles, who scored two PPGs of their own on seven chances. Gaby Roy, Abby Newhook, and Sammy Taber all had two points each in the contest, with Newhook notching the game winner on the PP in the second period. Kara Goulding, Lauren Glaser, and Carson Zanella all scored their first goals of their NCAA career, and freshman Bailey Callaway recorded her first win in collegiate play in the 22 save effort. 

Am I Reading This Right? Merrimack is At The Top of The Standings? 

Friday: Merrimack 3, UVM 2
Saturday: Merrimack 3, UVM 2

In the preseason poll, the Warriors were predicted to finish ninth in the conference standings ahead of only Holy Cross. 

Except three games into conference play, they’re atop the standings after sweeping a UVM team that is, for lack of a better word, struggling. 

Friday night’s game was fairly even to start, with shots on goal 8-7 at the end of the first period in favor of the Catamounts. However, an early goal in the second period from Sage Babey (the first of her career) was the first of three unanswered for Merrimack. After a lackluster first, UVM did play better in the second even if that wasn’t reflected on the score sheet. 

In the third, the Catamounts began to mount a comeback thanks to Natalie Zarcone and Lara Beecher. However, a massive stop on Evelyne Blais-Savoie on a penalty shot made by goaltender Margaux Favre with under two minutes to play came in crucial, and the Warriors held on to win 3-2. 

The second game of the series was dominated by Merrimack to start, as they limited UVM to just two shots through the first 20 minutes of play. The visitors also had a 2-0 lead from fairly early on in the second, however the Catamounts tied it with 6:54 to play in the frame thanks to Blais-Savoie. 

A late second period PPG for Maria Lindberg was the difference, as neither team found the back of the net in the third period. Merrimack finished the weekend with two goals on six PP opportunities, and blocked 26 shots to the Catamounts 15. Even with just 27 wins on 100 faceoffs throughout the two games, the Warriors were able to score when it counted, and were rewarded with six points in Hockey East, moving them into a tie for first place with UConn and BU. 

The wins ended a 13 game unbeaten streak for the Catamounts that dated back to January of 2019. 

BU Shuts Out Northeastern for First Time in 14 years

Friday: Northeastern 4, BU 0 
Saturday: BU 4, Northeastern 0

The last time Boston University shutout Northeastern was Dec. 7. 

2010. 

Until Saturday, when the Terriers ended up blanking the Huskies 4-0 at Agganis Arena after being shut out at Matthews Arena the night before. The Saturday contest was all BU, and especially all Callie Shanahan. After being pulled in the third period Friday, the senior bounced back with a 25 save shutout. For her efforts she was named Hockey East Stop It Goaltender of the Week. 

Throughout Saturday’s game the BU defense was also stellar. They limited NU to just three shots in the second period, and negated all three PPs the Huskies had throughout the game. 

The key difference in this game was the scoring BU was able to find from their depth. Rookie Lola Reid notched her second goal of the season in the first period and the team never looked back. Riley Walsh, Sydney Healey, and Clara Yuhn also found the back of the cage in the effort. 

Not only was this the first time the Terriers have shutout Northeastern since 2010, it was also the first straight up win BU has had over the Huskies since 2021. Fun tidbit – the game winning goal in that game was scored by Christina Vote, a current assistant captain for BU. 

The Huskies did come out swinging Friday night, with freshman Éloïse Caron scoring just five minutes in. The top line for NU was clicking, but they also got depth scoring from both Ella Blackmore and Holly Abela. Paige Taborski made 26 saves in the shutout. Caron, with two goals, was the Pro Ambitious Rookie of the Week for the conference following her offensive production on Friday. 

Everyone Else: 

Maine vs. Providence

Friday: Providence 3, Maine 2 (OT)
Saturday: Maine 3, Providence 2 

A fairly even matchup on paper delivered a fairly even weekend series between the Friars and Black Bears, as the teams split Friday and Saturday. 

Maine opened the scoring in the first on Friday; however, the trio of Millie Sirum, Ashley Clark, and Hannah Johnson contributed to back-to-back goals for the Friars to take the lead. A power play tally from Stephanie Jacob evened the score for the Black Bears late in the second period. Audrey Knapp recorded the game winner with just two seconds to play in OT for the Friar’s first Hockey East win of the year. Hope Walinski made 34 saves in the win, matching her career high. 

The Black Bears had their revenge the following day with a 3-2 win of their own. Johnson continued her hot weekend with a goal 4:48 in the first period to give Providence the lead; however, Lila Shea playing in her first game of the season scored her first goal of her career to tie the game at one. The teams traded goals to make it 2-2, and then with 6:34 to play Courtney Colarullo scored the game winner for the Black Bears, earning the team the team’s first win of the season. 

UConn vs. UNH 

Friday: UConn 5, UNH 1
Saturday: UConn 2, UNH 0

After starting the season 1-3 against two tough out of conference opponents, the Huskies got back to their winning ways with a relatively easy sweep of UNH over the weekend. 

UConn outshot UNH 21-8 in the first on Friday, but only had one goal to show for it thanks to Jada Habisch. The Huskies then came back for the second period and began to wreak havoc, scoring four more goals before the horn, including one from Hockey East Player of the Week Claire Murdoch. Sedona Blair, after giving up four goals on 22 shots, was pulled in favor of Noemi Martinez. On the opposite end, Megan Warrener turned away all but one of the shots she saw, with her shutout being spoiled by Addy Finn with eight seconds left in regulation. The senior made 20 saves in her second win of the season. 

Tia Chan got the start for UConn the following day, and was stellar as well. She turned away all 25 shots she faced, including 15 in the third after the Wildcats started pushing late. Sedona Blair bounced back, making 36 saves in the losing effort. Maya Serdachny scored her first goal in the NCAA two minutes into the second period, while Murdoch picked up a goal and an assist to bring her weekend point total to five (two goals, three assists). 

The Wildcats have struggled mightily to start the season, with their sole win coming against Assumption who then turned around and tied them the following day. Two out of conference games against Union could help right the ship, but back-to-back losses to start Hockey East play could be a tough hole to climb out of.  

Providence vs. No. 10/11 Quinnipiac (ECAC)

Tuesday: Providence 3, Quinnipiac 2 

After falling 1-0 last week, the Friars turned around in their home arena to squeak a win out over Quinnipiac 3-2. The Bobcats jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a goal with 19 seconds left in the first from Kendall Cooper, and one 1:14 into the second from Emerson Jarvis. 

The Friars didn’t let that deter them however, as they clawed their way back into the contest thanks to goals from Reichen Kirchmair and Kiara Kraft near the halfway marks of the second and third period respectively. Then it was Sarah Davies, the Lindenwood transfer, who scored her first in a Friar uniform to secure the win with five minutes to play. Hope Walinksi once again made 34 saves en route to the win.

One note: Across the three games between Friday and Tuesday, the Friar power play went 0-for-11. After a hot start against Saint Michael’s, it’ll be interesting to see how the PP continues to trend moving forward throughout the rest of the season. 

Matchup to Watch

UConn at Providence – Friday at 2 PM 

While the two teams had fairly different expectations coming into the season, both the Friars and Huskies seem to have had similar outcomes through the first weekends. While UConn is the better team on paper, Providence just proved their resilience after beating nationally-ranked Quinnipiac on Tuesday. 

I’m interested to see how the Friar PP, if given the opportunity, plays against a UConn PK that has not been great to start the year. It was better against UNH this weekend, but something has to break for Providence on the skater advantage at some point, and what better time than an early afternoon one-off against the reigning Hockey East champions. 

Prediction: I think UConn wins this one, however with the way Hope Walinski has been playing to start the season, I don’t think it’s an easy win for them. It’ll probably be around a 2-1 victory, especially with the goaltending matchup that’s inevitable between these two teams. However, Providence gets their one goal thanks to a power play tally. 

Full Schedule:

Streaming Details Available Here

Conference:  

UConn at Providence - Friday at 2 PM

Maine at BU – Friday at 3 PM, Saturday at 3 PM

Northeastern/Holy Cross – Friday at 6 PM (at HC), Saturday at 5 PM (at NU, also on NESN) 

BC at Merrimack – Saturday at 6 PM 

Non-Conference: 

St. Lawrence at UVM – Friday at 6 PM, Saturday at 2 PM 

Union at UNH – Friday at 6 PM, Saturday at 6 PM 

UConn at Harvard – Saturday at 6 PM