Backcheck
Surely, when the Boston College Superfan populace watched Molly Schaus take leave for the Team USA Qwest Tour, a few mouths uttered the pessimistic platitude, “It’ll take two solid goalies to replace her.”
You were saying?
For what one game is worth, the Eagles’ consensus backup goalie, Kiera Kingston, submitted yet another pristine performance in relief of Corrine Boyles on Saturday, repelling all of 33 shots from host Connecticut en route to an eventual 1-0 shootout victory.
Whereas the rookie Boyles has consumed a little more than two-thirds of the total team crease time in 12 games this season, Kingston has claim to two of the three shutouts. And she has laid the two goose-eggs back-to-back in her two biggest sweats of the season, having just blanked Vermont on 26 blocks the previous weekend.
Ever since she authorized an equalizer en route to a 1-1 tie/shootout win over Maine on October 18, Kingston has paved an active shutout streak of 169:06, stopping 71 consecutive shots within that time frame.
Tough luck for her, one needs to have accounted for at least 33.3 percent of the team’s workload in order to be visibly included in the Hockey East goaltending leaderboard (she falls a few notches short at 28.2 percent). After all, her goals-against average is an infinitesimal 1.14, coupled with a saturated .957 save percentage. As of the conclusion of Saturday’s action, amongst all league member goalies with at least one start-to-finish swirl to their credit, her numbers were surpassed only by the regal Florence Schelling of Northeastern.
But granted, Boyles is reasonably reliable herself. She verified that on Sunday when she stepped back into the cage and charged up her first shutout, putting on a 42-save dolphin show while her skating mates did their part to dismantle UConn, 4-0, at Conte Forum.
It was BC’s fifth Hockey East win in six tries and it improved them to 3-1-3 overall in their last seven games. Since returning from a timely two-game respite from game action in the latter half of October, they have gone 3-1-1 and, save for a 5-1 falter before the bipolar Vermont Catamounts, have authorized no more than one goal per game.
And when all of the weekend’s ice chips settled, Boyles stood second in the league on the overall save-percentage leaderboard, sandwiched by the radiant likes of Schelling and PC’s Genevieve Lacasse.
Molly who?
***
For all scorekeepers concerned, Boston University and Providence College were hazardous agents of carpal tunnel for the duration of their home-and-home series last weekend. Saturday’s gathering at Agganis Arena, an eventual 5-1 Terrier triumph, was saturated with a combined 18 minor penalties, seven power play conversions, and six individuals picking up multi-point performances.
In Part II, the Friars, who were lacking a regulation NCAA win in their previous eight tries, unleashed a carbonated outpouring of offense en route to a 6-2 triumph at Schneider Arena, four unanswered third period strikes spelling the difference. In all, five Terriers and eight Friars appeared on Sunday’s scoresheet, including a goal-assist value pack for BU starting winger Jonnie Bloemers, a hat trick and a helper for PC’s Nicole Anderson, and a goal and playmaker hat trick for Ashley Cottrell.
With the win and Northeastern’s upset loss to Maine, Providence –which has subsisted heavily on shootout points of late- shall approach Friday’s home date tied for first place with the Hub Huskies (11 points apiece).
***
No one on this coast, however, has been in a more anguishing winless funk of late than Maine. After Northeastern broke loose late in the second period and ran off with a 5-1 triumph in an otherwise evenly played contest, the Black Bears were on a 0-9-2 stretch, their lone source of gratification being a shootout win over Providence the weekend prior.
But by winning the shooting gallery, 33-30, and out-disciplining the first-place Huskies, four minor penalties to two, on Saturday, Maine had pretty much cemented the league’s top-to-bottom parity when their two-day stay in the Hub was half-over. For good measure, though, they bounced back on Sunday to pull off a 1-0 win, once again holding a slight edge in shots on net (36-34), granting Northeastern a mere three power plays, and converting on one of their own courtesy of top gun Jenna Ouelette at 5:55 of the second period. They also pinned Northeastern with its first regulation loss in seven league contests this season.
On only four occasions this season have the Black Bears mustered more than 30 registered stabs on the opposing netminder. Three of them have come in succession, and the last two, mind you, were against Schelling, the Swiss Save-ior.
That, more than anything, can explain why they only let two out of 69 bids tune the mesh this weekend. Or so head coach Dan Lichterman ought to hope going forward.
***
A single get-together between Vermont and New Hampshire, originally slated for this past Saturday, will be pushed off indefinitely due to an overwhelming flu outbreak amongst the Lake Whittemore Sorority. (Kudos, by the way, to league and team officials for agreeing to arrange an eventual make-up date rather than simply give away two points by virtue of forfeit.)
When they do resume action this week, the Catamounts will have a chronic case of Deadened Stick Syndrome to address. A 5-1 thrashing of Boston College aside, they have been shut out in four of their last five ventures, most recently a 4-0 loss at Boston University this past Wednesday. If they are to bulk up their persona as a reckonable Hockey East contender, Vermont must learn to make their scoring stock last them a full 60 minutes and for several 60-minute windows in succession. So far, they have gotten off rather easy for five overall wins with one multi-goal period spelling the difference, but most nights have pulled off next to nothing.
Forecheck
A lighter week of action shall warm up the WHEA community for Sunday’s All-Star clash with the U.S. Olympic team at New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center. But first, make note of a few quick rematches between the conference cohabitants themselves.
Wednesday night shall be the latest installment of the cross-Commonwealth rivalry, and only 16 nights after BC bumped BU, 2-1, at Walter Brown Arena.
On Friday, the Eagles will journey to Vermont a mere two weeks after they had split a two-game set at their place. Meanwhile, 12 days removed from their epic 13-round shootout, the Lacasse-Schelling rivalry will rekindle at Schneider Arena with exclusive claim to first place potentially at stake (unless BC triumphs in both of its games this week).
Weekly scoreboard
Wednesday, November 11
Boston University 4, Vermont 0
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbu_ver1.n11
http://www.goterriers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111109aaa.html
http://www.uvm.edu/~sportspr/womens_hockey/?Page=News&storyID=15409
Saturday, November 14
Boston College 1, Connecticut 0 (SO)
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbc_con1.n14
http://bceagles.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111409aaa.html
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111409aab.html
Northeastern 5, Maine 1
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wmnenoe1.n14
http://goblackbears.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111409aaa.html
http://gonu.com/whockey/2010/wh10-11.shtml
Boston University 5, Providence 3
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbu_prv1.n14
http://www.goterriers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111409aaa.html
http://www.friars.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111409aaa.html
Sunday, November 15
Boston College 4, Connecticut 0
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbc_con1.n15
http://bceagles.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111509aaa.html
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111509aaa.html
Providence 6, Boston University 2
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbu_prv1.n15
http://www.goterriers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111509aab.html
http://www.friars.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111509aaa.html
Maine 1, Northeastern 0
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wmnenoe1.n15
http://goblackbears.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/111509aaa.html
http://gonu.com/whockey/2010/wh10-12.shtml
Upcoming schedule
Wednesday, November 18
Boston University at Boston College 7:00 pm
New Hampshire at Harvard 7:00 pm
Friday, November 20
Boston College at Vermont 7:00 pm
Northeastern at Providence 7:00 pm
Saturday, November 21
Rensselaer at New Hampshire 5:00 pm
Sunday, November 22
WHEA All-Stars vs. U.S. Olympic Team 1:00 p.m.
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