For the first time since the 2015-16 season, Boston College women’s hockey swept the regular season battle of Comm. Ave. series against Boston University on Saturday night. The last time the Eagles did, they went 40–1–0. Their only loss was in the 2016 National Championship against then-No. 3 Minnesota.
Eagles goaltender Abigail Levy was a brick wall in the net inside Agganis Arena, as she racked up 35 saves and made athletic stops in the 2–1 BC (18–12–1, 15–10–0 Hockey East) victory. Gaby Roy continued her junior-year campaign with an early goal and Alexie Guay potted BC’s second goal of the night to give the Eagles assurance. BC’s forecheck and puck control left BU (10–17–3, 9–13–3) powerless in its own end for most of the night.
“It’s tough to play that game in between the Beanpot when you know you’re going to be able to play for a trophy on Tuesday,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said. “So I was really impressed with how well we played and how we stuck to our gameplan.”
BC was able to draw a penalty just 4:35 into the game, as BU’s Andi Calderone was called for tripping. But the Eagles couldn’t take advantage, and they fell to 5-for-58 on power play opportunities this season.
Each team continued to go back and forth until the Eagles began to establish their presence past BU’s blue line, leading to a Roy goal with 2:42 left in the period. Roy managed to slot in a rebound off a shot that was blocked by a BU defender’s skate, marking Roy’s eighth goal of the year and extending her point streak to four straight games.
Going into the second period, BC appeared to have the momentum, but Hannah Bilka was called for a holding penalty about a minute into the period, handing BU a power play. And despite five Terriers shots during the advantage, the national women’s goalie of the year finalist stood tall, making a series of stops that ended with her laying down on the ice to prevent a Terriers goal.
“She’s been great, not only in net, but as a leader,” Crowley said of Levy. “She’s the type of goalie that’s gonna, you know, help you in a hockey game and keep you in the game.”
Immediately after the Eagles killed the penalty, defenseman Guay buried a snipe from the blue at the 3:47 mark for her fifth goal of the year to give BC a 2–0 lead. Guay continued her BU dominance, as she now has eight points in nine career games against the Terriers.
The Eagles, however, could not put the game away, as the Terriers answered back, catching BC in a line change. BU found itself on a five-on-two opportunity, and Haylee Blinkhorn put a one-timer past Levy to cut BC’s lead in half at the 14:41 mark.
BU had scoring opportunities in the final minutes of the second period, but couldn’t convert, and the Eagles ended the period ahead 2–1 despite BU’s 17 shot on goal period to BC’s eight.
BC’s forecheck was in sync to begin the third period, as the Eagles continually pressured BU’s puck handlers and kept the puck on BU’s end of the ice for much of the first half of the period.
But Terriers goaltender Andre Brändii managed to keep it a one score game, registering 14 saves in the third period. She had 31 total saves all game.
BU called a timeout to regroup but still couldn’t get anything past Levy, and with less than two minutes remaining, it appeared the Eagles would escape with the victory.
That was until Jenna Carpenter committed a tripping penalty with 1:26 left in the game—starting a power play for BU.
“Long story short, they had a premature substitution because their goalie was still on the ice, and they had six players out there, so the whistle should have been blown [before the penalty],” Crowley said. “I think even the refs at one point told me we weren’t going to have a penalty. So it was a little bit crazy.”
The Terriers pulled their goalie, leading to a six-on-four player advantage down the stretch. But Levy came through once again, making several big saves, including a diving save across the crease to get a piece of a one-timer, sending BC back to Chestnut Hill with the victory.
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