Saint Lawrence was looking to pick up its seventh win of the season, and its first since Nov. 8 to snap its four-game losing streak.
Boston College women’s hockey (9–7–1, 7–2–1 Hockey East) ultimately fell to Saint Lawrence (7–11–1, 4–4–0 ECAC) 4–2 on Saturday afternoon, snapping the Eagles five-game win streak.
The first period was characterized by sloppy neutral zone possession, leading to multiple fast breaks and odd-man rushes for both sides, as Grace Campbell for the Eagles and Emma-Sofie Nordström for the Saints recorded 41 and 25 saves, respectively.
With chances on both ends, Abby Hehl of Saint Lawrence was sent to the penalty box for tripping with 9:13 remaining in the period. Unfortunately, the Eagles presented no real chances on the man-up advantage.
Period one wrapped up at 0–0, seeing the Eagles and Saints go almost even from the face-off dots at eight for the Eagles and nine for the Saints. Stellar performances from both goaltenders in the first were nothing new to either team.
Similarly, the second period followed the same in suit, ending 0–0 with no goals from either side.
The penalty box did see action from each team, as senior defenseman Cailin Flynn picked up a two-minute minor for tripping. Campbell, once again, bailed out the Eagles, posting four consecutive saves on the penalty kill, which was eventually ended with a clearance by Sammy Taber. Shortly after Hayden Summers received a two-minute minor for elbowing, but it amounted to nothing as the game remained scoreless.
Dual-sport athlete Emily Mara, playing both soccer and hockey at BC, found herself in the box for checking from behind. In miraculous fashion, Emma Conner blocked three shots in a row to keep the Saints off the scoresheet.
Conner posted seven blocks in Saturday’s contest, totaling to 51 on the season. The redshirt senior now leads Hockey East in blocks on the season, and ranks among the nation’s top five in blocks.
Saint Lawrence would slip late in the second, picking up two penalties, including an Abby Hehl tripping penalty with four seconds remaining, giving the Eagles a two-player advantage to start the third.
As the third period began, Conner opened the scoring for BC on the power play off a back-glass rebound. Freshman Madelyn Murphy and Ava Thomas were credited with the assist as BC still had one minute remaining on the power play.
With 7:15 remaining in the third, Saint Lawrence captain Kennedy Wilson would net her third goal of the season, tying the game at 1–1. In flashy fashion, however, the Eagles would respond almost immediately with Ava Thomas netting her 11th goal of the season with 5:50 remaining, pushing the Eagles ahead 2–1.
Thomas has now amounted 23 points in her freshman campaign, a sign of light for BC despite the final score.
After Thomas’s goal, it was all downhill for the Eagles, as they conceded three goals within the last 4:22 of play.
Erasing the 2–1 lead for the Eagles were a pair of goals from Rylan Haslam, her fifth and sixth goals on the season. With the Saints leading 3–2, Alexa Davis would tuck the game away with an empty-net goal with 41 seconds remaining.