Who better than Mercyhurst, winners of a one-sided 4-1 decision in last year’s NCAA quarterfinal, to administer Boston University’s test retake?
After a serendipitous strike by then-sophomore defender Tara Watchorn sent them directly into the 2010 tourney, and after they submitted a standard skate-whetting performance in their first Elite Eight game, the Terriers are primed to flaunt all they have added and all they have learned in the last 12 months.
Coupling a succulent stock of returnees from last year’s Hockey East championship/autobid entry with an otherworldly trio of Jenn Wakefield, Catherine Ward, and Marie-Philip Poulin, BU improved from a 17-9-12 finish last year to a 25-6-4 run. More than enough to warrant home ice for this year’s quarterfinal, although the opposing 29-5-0 Lakers could argue they ought to have drawn a different adversary and deserved to stay on their own campus.
Come what may, this Saturday brings the do-over this steadily ascending six-year-old program has patiently salivated for since last year’s breakthrough.
“I don’t think there’s any question that any time you get a big game like this, people are excited and energized,” said Terriers’ head coach Brian Durocher. “And the same can be said for Mercyhurst, so I don’t know if there’s revenge or extra motivation.
“It’s real simple. Everybody wants to get to the Frozen Four, so our job is to be excited but make sure it’s tempered excitement and that we not only come out hard, but play well in the second and third period and avoid mistakes.”
Although it can be argued with little chance for a respectable rebuttal that the selection committee pulled some over-arching maneuvers with their matchups, the Terrier-Laker card is indubitably intriguing. The two programs measure up with chin-to-chin digits under most every heading, especially in the way of special teams.
Mercyhurst is the third-most penalized team in the country, committing 13.4 minutes worth of infractions per night. But the Lakers also have the power to lure their adversaries down a dirty path, drawing an identical average of 13.4 power play minutes.
BU’s penalty kill is tied for tops in the nation with a 93.8 percent success rate. Mercyhurst boasts the second-most volcanic power play, converting 25.8 percent of its chances.
In terms of combined special teams, the Lakers and Terriers are No. 1 and No. 2 at 57.8 and 57.6, respectively.
Getting past the numbers and acknowledging the names, BU can certainly brace itself with more conviction, having tacked on the likes of Poulin, Wakefield, and Ward over the summer.
Wakefield, a junior transfer out of New Hampshire, is no stranger to progressing through an NCAA dance. As a rookie in 2008, she scored the regulation equalizer for New Hampshire in a 3-2 overtime quarterfinal win over St. Lawrence. A week later, inserted the icebreaker in an eventual 3-2 loss to Minnesota-Duluth in the semifinals
“You’re always looking for leaders,” said Durocher. “And having someone like her, who’s been in the Frozen Four, having somebody like Catherine Ward who’s been in the Olympic Games and the (CIS tournament with McGill University), you’re going to lean on these people to be your leaders. And the fact that most of us have played in the NCAA tournament before. All of those things are all going to help us as a team from a sheer experience standpoint.
“Mercyhurst has been down this road before, so I give them a little bit of an edge that way. But we’re certainly going to count on Jenn to be a big part of it and be a big leader throughout this game, and hopefully beyond.”
But just as last year’s Terriers were without their two Canadian Olympians and three centralization vets, last year’s Lakers were lacking the input of Meghan Agosta. Agosta, now the all-time leading scorer among female NCAA pucksters with a career transcript of 155-146-301, was still savoring the afterglow of her second Olympic triumph, one she shared with the likes of Poulin and Ward in Vancouver.
By the same token, there is some advantageous familiarity between Agosta and Ward, arguably the most efficient defensive player in the nation. And in the unlikely event that Ward couldn’t step up, Durocher will bank on an insurance policy bolstered by Watchorn, with her share of Canadian U22 experience, and Kasey Boucher, an international novice gradually earning her stripes and stars with USA Hockey.
“We do have the last change, and I certainly think Catherine will see plenty of ice time against her,” Durocher said. “(But you) don’t always have the perfect situation with line changes, penalties, et cetera, so it’s nice to know that we go in with three real high-quality left defenders.”
Ultimately, there are no foolproof means of prophesying the results of this recipe. Both teams in question are 2-0-0 against each other’s conference this season, Mercyhurst having swept Maine Oct. 9-10 and BU doing the same to Wayne State a week later.
Beyond that negligible barometer, it is simply another crossover between polar puck worlds –and one that the Terriers hope will advance their national posture a little more than the last.
“This is why we have games this time of year. To see who comes out on top,” Durocher concluded.
Al Daniel is the Hockey East correspondent to Beyond The Dashers
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