Providence junior forward Kate Bacon has not merely cracked her chrysalis as a productive college-level scorer. She has blown it to shards with her now perfectly distinguishable speed.
Entering the year with a career transcript of 62 games played, 12 goals, and 10 assists, Bacon has already tuned the opposing mesh five times in four regular season games. Four more strikes and she will have already cemented a career year under the goal heading.
Bacon, whose other can’t-miss trait is drawing penalties (including two in Sunday’s 5-0 win over Clarkson), is also quick to adapt. In PC’s first four engagements –two exhibitions with McGill followed by a two-night visit to Robert Morris- she had combined with classmates Ashley Cottrell and Laura Veharanta on the second line for six goals, nine assists, and 55 shots on net.
But with senior co-captain Jean O’Neill out indefinitely with a lower body injury sustained October 2, Friars head coach Bob Deraney chose to elevate Bacon to the top left wing slot last week. Deraney insisted he had no reservations breaking up Bacon’s original line. And when he did, he watched her nail a hat trick in Saturday’s 6-1 lashing of St. Lawrence, and then score on a zone-to-zone swoop against Clarkson, beating a backchecker to a waved-off icing and burying a coin of insurance.
“Kate can play anywhere and make people around her better just because of her natural speed,” said Deraney. “But now she’s so much smarter. Her hands have caught up with her head and her feet.”
Bacon’s new center, Alyse Ruff, garnered a playmaker hat trick by assisting on each of her goals Saturday. Third-liner Nicole Anderson matched that feat on Sunday, with her first two helpers being on Ruff’s power play goals that spawned a 2-0 lead early in the second period.
On the whole, the 3-1-0 Friars have already seen 11 individual multi-point games, including two hat tricks and another three two-goal performances. Of the 17 skaters to have dressed so far, 15 have notched at least one point, and even celestial goaltender Genevieve Lacasse has garnered credit for two assists in the young season.
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One night before Kelli Stack rebranded her return to Boston College as “triumphant” through a hat trick against Syracuse, Eagles’ rookie Melissa Bizarri made a bold first impression herself. Centering the third line against Colgate last Friday, opposite Caitlin Walsh and Ashley Motherwell, Bizarri discharged six shots on goal and granted BC a pair of insurance goals at 7:00 and 13:54, respectively, en route to a 4-0 triumph. But of course, Stack had to make her mark as well, which she through an assist on Taylor Wasylk’s first period icebreaker.
All nine constituents of BC’s top three lines etched at least one point in their raid of the Raiders. But the following day, it was a vintage format, Stack launching nine SOG and collecting four points as part of a come-from-behind 5-2 win over the host Orange. Such a routine performance by the two-time Hockey East Player of the Year may have kicked a few publicity ice chips over the 1-3-4 night by the rookie winger Wasylk. Then again, it was Stack who collaborated with Wasylk, her left side associate on the starting line, on those four scoring plays.
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Progressive-minded Vermont did plenty to leave a promising first impression in its opening series at RPI, getting tangible contributions from seven different skaters –including three seniors and three rookies- in two games. The only thing amiss was the ability to defend a lead. They spilled a 3-1 edge in the third period Friday and settled for a 3-3 tie, then let a 1-0 advantage devolve into an eventual 1-1 draw on Saturday. The Catamounts will have to spruce up on that and make new stoppers Roxanne Douville and Kelci Lanthier a little more assured in that scenario.
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The once-guaranteed groove in the Northeastern crease is still frightfully amiss –and getting more harrowing by the game.
Opposing Quinnipiac thoroughly had its way on both sides of the puck on Saturday, disassembling junior Florence Schelling for three goals on just 10 shots before putting another one behind senior Leah Sulyma en route to a 4-0 triumph. The 30:37 minutes she spent in action would be Schelling’s shortest outing in her college career and her save percentage dipped to an unthinkable .877, coupled with a swollen 3.39 goals-against average.
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Their skate-whetting series with Sacred Heart long behind them, now is the back-to-reality portion of the Maine Black Bears almanac. Mighty Mercyhurst pinned 5-2 and 6-1 drawbacks on the Bears at Alfond Arena over the weekend, though sophomore stopper Brittany Ott turned in an irreproachable 69-save performance on Saturday, followed by a bushel of 45 blocks on Sunday.
Hey, welcome to Orono, Maria Lewis.
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New Hampshire stopper Lindsey Minton, succeeding Kayley Herman in the wake of Friday’s 4-2 loss to Syracuse, experienced the hockey equivalent of a baseball pitcher hurling a no-hitter in a losing cause. After Saturday’s 1-0 overtime fall to Colgate, her GAA is slightly less than an even 1 (0.97), yet she carries an empty winning percentage at 0-1-0…Top Boston University center Jenn Wakefield was rapidly the first Hockey Easterner to reach 20-plus shots on goal, unloading 11, including two insurance goals, in Saturday’s 6-2 road win at Union…Connecticut is one of the few teams on this coast yet to have even a momentary bout of offensive fever. The 1-2-0 Huskies still have yet to scored or allow any more than three goals in a single game.
Weekly scoreboard
Friday, October 8
Boston College 4, Colgate 0
Syracuse 4, New Hampshire 2
Vermont 3, Rensselaer 3
Saturday, October 9
Connecticut 3, Clarkson 1
Mercyhurst 5, Maine 2
Providence 6, St. Lawrence 1
Boston University 6, Union 2
Quinnipiac 4, Northeastern 0
Colgate 1, New Hampshire 0
Vermont 1, Rensselaer 1
Boston College 5, Syracuse 2
Sunday, October 10
St. Lawrence 3, Connecticut 2
Mercyhurst 6, Maine 1
Providence 5, Clarkson 0
Upcoming schedule
Friday, October 15
New Hampshire at Rensselaer, 7:00 pm
Wayne State at Boston University, 7:00 pm
Providence at Syracuse, 7:00 pm
Quinnipiac at Maine, 7:00 pm
Connecticut at Colgate, 7:00 pm
Boston College at Vermont, 7:00 pm
Saturday, October 16
Wayne State at Boston University, 2:00 pm
Northeastern at Robert Morris, 2:00 pm
Connecticut at Syracuse, 4:00 pm
Providence at Colgate, 4:00 pm
Boston College at Vermont, 4:00 pm
Quinnipiac at Maine, 4:00 pm
New Hampshire at Union, 4:00 pm
Sunday, October 17
Northeastern at Robert Morris, 12:00 pm
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