Orange makeover or not, starting center Stefanie Marty and goaltender Lucy Schoedel are still as good as Those Darn Cats in the eyes of Boston College Superfans in the aftermath of Friday’s affair.
The two New Hampshire expatriates, who shuffled to a smaller pond in Syracuse when it was flooded in the summer of 2008, buoyed a startling U-turn for the Orange in the teething program’s first engagement with a Hockey East adversary, ultimately concocting a 3-3 tie with the Eagles at Chestnut Hill.
Her team trailing, 3-0, within the final minute of the middle frame, Marty struck for a power play conversion with 24 seconds to spare and her mates efficiently preserved the wave well through the third. Syracuse would run up a 17-7 advantage in the final 20-minute shooting gallery and pulled even courtesy Holly Carrie-Mattimoe (with a helper to none other than Marty) and Isabel Menard.
The well-supported Schoedel held up through the bite-size bonus round, needing to deal with two simple Eagle bids to finalize the 3-3 upshot and prolong BC’s sketchy seasonal breakout (0-1-2).
Is it high time for Conte Forum consternation? Not completely. Do note that the Orange had previously confined almighty Minnesota to four goals in each of two meetings out west last weekend –an altogether pleasurable performance for a team that still has a sprinkling of Division-III contests on its itinerary. From their angle, it is indubitably time for a fair heads-up to New Hampshire –which gets to host two of its old sisters Saturday- as well as Connecticut and Providence, who are on tap to host Syracuse next weekend.
As for the Eagles, it is now chiefly a matter of how soon it will be until radiant scorer Kelli Stack and celestial stopper Molly Schaus stop being conspicuous by their absence. The latter cavity is –at least ostensibly- well into its filling process as rookie netminder Corrine Boyles fended off all but three of 33 Syracuse stabs to bump up her three-game collection to 95 and draw her second tie in as many decisions.
Boyles even partook in the scoring during the more palatable half of Friday’s sweet-n-sour outing. She was credited with the initial helper on senior Allie Thunstrom’s first strike of the day late in the opening stanza. By day’s end, Thunstrom had potted two firsthand points and combined with her line’s centerpiece Allison Szlosek (goal, assist) for 11 SOG.
The sophomore Szlosek’s output instantly doubled her career collection after she went through 35 games in 2008-09 with but one solitary goal and assist to speak of. It’s pretty tough not to smell progression in that twig.
So the no-duh objective now is to ensure that Boyles, Thunstrom, and Szlosek all make these types of outings a little more habitual. Not to mention, we still have yet to hear from the two higher-barred sophomores, Mary Restuccia and Danielle Welch, both pointless up to this point.
Right now, overall, the Eagles’ offense stands at No. 7 in the league leaderboard with a 1.67 median production. The defense dwells in the cellar with an even three goals-against per game. Furthermore, the power play has yet to covert on a cumulative 13 opportunities, whereas the penalty kill has authorized three opposing goals, including Marty’s icebreaker on Friday.
Naturally, this can all be spruced up in plenty of time for an assertive showing in the Hockey East pennant race, which should be spicing up starting next month especially with BC playing seven unanswered league games between Halloween and Thanksgiving.
The only element that ought to spawn immediate urgency is the fast-dwindling nonconference portion of the schedule. The foul 5-1 falter before Clarkson last Friday and the two subsequent ties were all interleague affairs and by next week, after drop-ins by Colgate and Quinnipiac, only seven more will remain.
The two points one earns from a sound nonconference win are technically invisible, yet they are invaluable in that they have a second-nature way of affecting a team’s long-term posture in the national polls. BC was briskly docked from its preseason perch in the No. 6 slot and currently has but 12 votes and an honorable mention to speak of. Even with a hypothetically thorough dismantling of Colgate on Saturday, they are unlikely to renew their Top 10 membership right away.
You see? So easy and quick to collapse, so tough and long to rebuild. That’s the NCAA ecosystem.
Granted, they will have a few more exquisite invitations to make an impression –namely on a two-night visit from Minnesota-Duluth post-Thanksgiving and a pair of home dates with St. Lawrence in mid-January. But for right now, and if those future engagements are to retain their relevance, the Eagles still have some growing pains to assuage.
Friday scoreboard
BC 3, Syracuse 3
Boston University 4, Robert Morris 3 (OT)
Clarkson 3, Providence 2 (OT)
Connecticut 2, St. Lawrence 1
New Hampshire 4, Colgate 0
Vermont 2, Union 0
Minnesota State 5, Maine 2
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