Backcheck: Boston College head coach Katie King may have made the most advisable move to replenish her Kelli Stack-less strike force by assigning each of her three returning double-digit point-getters –Allie Thunstrom, Mary Restuccia, and Danielle Welch- to a different line, theoretically hoping to spread the scoring wealth.
It could ultimately work, but it is bound to take time. Case in point: last Friday’s 5-1 lashing at the hands of Clarkson University and Saturday’s 1-1 tie with the same adversary.
The Golden Knights, who were just teethmarks shy of Top 10 membership in the first USA Today poll of the season, doubled up the Eagles in the shooting gallery both nights (29-15 Friday, 46-23 Saturday). In some fairness, BC was confined to only three full forward lines with a remainder of one and their Big Three picked up the production in Saturday’s game, combining for 10 shots, though none went through.
But perhaps more importantly, rookie goaltender Corrine Boyles was quick to kick a few ice chips over the fresh lesions of Friday’s falter and the fact that Molly Schaus is unavailable to prop the Eagles up. In her collegiate debut, and one night after sophomore Kiera Kingston took the aforementioned 5-1 fall, Boyles pushed away 45 Clarkson shots, including five in as many overtime minutes and eight of nine Golden Knight power play stabs.
Similarly, Maine’s Brittany Ott made a solid case to succeed Genevieve Turgeon as head coach Dan Lichterman’s stopper of choice in Saturday’s 2-1 falter at the hands of Providence. One night after colleague Candace Currier crumbled on 25 shots faced in a 4-0 loss, Ott stepped in and swallowed all but two out of 42 Friar shots, including 22 out of 23 in the second period and all of 15 shots faced while shorthanded.
But her former Detroit Little Caesar’s U19 teammate, Ashley Cottrell, poked one through to ultimately grant PC a two-game weekend sweep and its first 2-0 start since the 2001-02 season. Cottrell, along with rookie Jess Cohen, each logged three points for the Friars on the weekend.
Continuing the theme of fresh-masked ladies vying to earn their stripes, Connecticut sophomore Alexandra Garcia, who caught a few helpful slivers of experience late last season when Brittany Wilson began to fizzle, propped up a fleeting moment of intrigue as she held the reigning champion New Hampshire scoreless through the halfway mark of the Huskies visit to Lake Whittemore and was generously granted a 1-0 lead courtesy veteran winger Brittany Murphy at 1:24 of the second period.
But for all the promises of a copious offense, Heather Linstad’s pupils have yet to show it as of this week. The Huskies proceeded to muster a light 13 shots on Wildcat stopper Lindsey Minton while Garcia ultimately crumbled, spilling the lead before the second intermission and losing, 3-1.
The shortage of support lagged on into Sunday’s all-Husky showdown at Matthews Arena. Once more, UConn planted a quick 1-0 lead at 6:34 of the first period, but did little thereafter to pester Northeastern’s Swiss phenom Florence Schelling, who own skating associates squeaked an equalizer behind Garcia and then claimed the shootout wishbone thanks to conversions by promising rookie Brittany Esposito and junior Alyssa Wohlfeiler.
Previously, the Hub Huskies had facilely dealt with Union College, carrying out a relatively smooth-paced 4-1 decision Saturday. None other than senior defender Lindsay Berman anchored the arsenal with a 2-1-3 transcript on the day, the best single-game output of her career.
Boston University can relate to the Connecticut crisis in habitually falling from ahead. The Terriers spilled a third period lead and ultimately faltered in a shootout in both installments of a two-game set versus Ohio State.
In Part I Friday night on their home pond, BU –which had six freshmen debuting on the active roster- subsisted on a brittle 1-0 edge with a lack of aid on six missed power play opportunities until the Puckeyed Buckeyes pounced on their seventh and final advantage with 5:06 to spare in regulation.
OSU’s extra-player brigade was even more opportunistic on Saturday, converting thrice on seven offerings. And within the 14th minute of the closing frame, an untimely 5-on-3 personnel deficit led the Terriers’ watching their 4-2 lead devolve into a 4-4 stalemate.
Although, the scarlet blood may have trickled more troublingly if not for goaltender Melissa Haber, who repelled four unanswered shots during one more penalty kill within the final 2:30 of regulation, ultimately helping to salvage an official tie for the now 0-0-2 Terriers.
On the other hand, Saturday’s upshot could still have been a win if at least one of 10 attempted overtime shots went through. Yet somehow, OSU’s Chelsea Knapp stopped seven of those bids while her tireless teammates blocked the other three.
Forecheck: Dominique Thibault, who shuffled her acetylene stick from Connecticut to Clarkson this past summer, shall see both ends of the Battle for Southern New England drop in at her new domain this weekend. Friday’s adversary from Providence College will stare her down for the first time since they effectively ended her three-year Husky career in vinegary fashion last February (she had recorded five shots on net, all of them stopped by Genevieve Lacasse as the Friars claimed a 3-0 decision in the Hockey East quarterfinal).
But that will only be the prelude to Saturday, when Thibault’s old nemeses give way to her old associates. At about 3:00 p.m., there stands a decent chance that Thibault will lock twigs with a former partner in lamplighting –say, Michelle Binning or Jennifer Chaisson- for the opening face-off at Cheel Arena.
There will be no league action in the coming weekend, though apart from the Huskies and Friars, who will trade sites Friday and Saturday between Clarkson and St. Lawrence, all Hockey East programs will be home.
The full slate reads as follows:
Friday
Syracuse at Boston College 2:00 p.m.
Robert Morris at Boston University 7:00 p.m.
Colgate at New Hampshire 7:00 p.m.
Connecticut at St. Lawrence 7:00 p.m.
Providence at Clarkson 7:00 p.m.
Union at Vermont 7:00 p.m.
Minnesota State at Maine 7:00 p.m.
Saturday
Minnesota State at Maine 2:00 p.m.
Robert Morris at Northeastern 2:00 p.m.
Connecticut at Clarkson 3:00 p.m.
Providence at St. Lawrence 3:00 p.m.
Union at Vermont 4:00 p.m.
Syracuse at New Hampshire 5:00 p.m.
Colgate at Boston College 5:00 p.m.
Weekly scoreboard
Friday, October 2
Clarkson 5, Boston College 1
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbc_clk1.o02
http://bceagles.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100209aaa.html
Boston University 1, Ohio State 1
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbu_osu1.o02
http://www.goterriers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100209aaa.html
Providence 4, Maine 0
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wmneprv1.o02
http://goblackbears.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100209aaa.html
http://www.friars.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100209aab.html
Saturday, October 3
Northeastern 4, Union 1
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wnoeuni1.o03
http://gonu.com/whockey/2010/wh10-01.shtml
New Hampshire 3, Connecticut 1
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wconunh1.o03
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100309aaa.html
http://www.unhwildcats.com/sports/wice/2009-10/releases/100309
Boston University 4, Ohio State 4
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbu_osu1.o03
http://www.goterriers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100309aae.html
Boston College 1, Clarkson 1
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbc_clk1.o03
http://bceagles.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100309aaa.html
Providence 2, Maine 1
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wmneprv1.o03
http://goblackbears.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100309aaa.html
http://www.friars.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100309aaa.html
Sunday, October 4
Northeastern 2, Connecticut 1 (SO)
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wconnoe1.o04
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/100409aaa.html
http://gonu.com/whockey/2010/wh10-02.shtml
New Hampshire 4, Quinnipiac 0
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wquiunh1.o04
http://www.unhwildcats.com/sports/wice/2009-10/releases/100409
McGill 2, Vermont 1 (OT)
http://collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wmcgver1.o04
No comments:
Post a Comment