Who will gain what out of this weekend’s two-night card between Boston College and Vermont at Gutterson Fieldhouse? Will the host Catamounts’ unripe goaltending guild absorb a fiery baptism via the Eagles’ energetic stick rack? Will BC’s hatchlings continue to feed off of and supplement senior Kelli Stack to spark that firestorm, much as they did over their recent Western New York voyage?
Or will it be both? This author is leaning in favor of the final choice with the most critical, immediate, tangible rewards all going to the Eagles.
On the Boston front lines, forwards Melissa Bizarri, Danielle Doherty, and Taylor Wasylk, plus defender Meagan Mangene, all have pleasing first impressions to build on from their first two games. In the Catamount crease, the same thing can be said about goaltender Roxanne Douville, who repelled 36 of 39 shots to draw a 3-3 tie in her debut versus Rensselaer last Friday.
Based on the rotation he employed last weekend against RPI, Catamounts head coach Tim Bothwell will have Douville in the crease this Friday, followed by sophomore transfer Kelci Lanthier on Saturday.
Both goalies will likely be harder pressed to watch their mates grant them a lead the way they did in two fall-from-ahead ties with the Engineers. And even if Vermont does grab an upper hand, it will be a tad tougher to defend against a relatively young, but already hustling flock of Eagles.
Last weekend, all four of Katie King’s freshmen notched at least one point and charged up no fewer than four shots on goal over two games. Bizarre and Wasylk each have two goals to their credit, Doherty three assists.
In all, BC’s rookies have already combined for a 4-7-11 transcript coupled with 23 SOG. That translates to 44 percent of the team’s goals and points and 31.1 percent of their shots.
Regardless of whether or not the frosh can duplicate or exceed their output this weekend, Douville should have plenty more than that to tussle with on Friday. Beneath the predictably potent Stack, odds are the capable, veteran likes of Ashley Motherwell, Mary Restuccia, and Danielle Welch will be raring to up their production a touch. Those three only mustered a cumulative 1-3-4 log in their first two games of the young season. And five other forwards are all still looking to register their first shot of the year.
But Douville and Lanthier should not be the lone young Catamounts to expect a stringent test from their visitors. To spare their stoppers an overwhelming pair of outings, it will be incumbent on the Vermont defensive corps of half-freshmen, half-seniors to dig a deeper, muddier moat against BC than they did against the comparatively weaker Engineers.
Where they are in their development, Douville and Lanthier could likely bend without breaking even if the shot clock cracks 30 against a budding national heavyweight. But anything above 40 would surely be enough for the Eagles to wrest the game out of reach and maybe even exile the opposing starter to the bench.
Ultimately, the progressive-minded Catamounts can, at the very least, prepare themselves to take solace in a learning experience. BC will just have to distribute more of what sparked its 2-0-0 jumpstart, relying neither too much nor too little on Stack or the acclimating rookies.
Al Daniel is the Hockey East correspondent to Beyond the Dashers
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