On Dec. 6, the University of Maine women’s ice hockey team lost to No. 13 Boston University at Alford Arena. The teams played in Boston on Oct. 18 and 19 with the Terriers earning victories both nights by tight scores of 2-1 and 2-0. Maine looked to respond after being swept against No. 1 Wisconsin, and are hoping to change the losses into a win tonight.
Right off of the first whistle, both teams showed how badly they wanted to get the advantage in the first period with a goal, but neither succeeded. The Black Bears won the majority of their battles and were first to most of the loose pucks. Their hard work rewarded many attacking opportunities, one shot even hitting off of the post early in the match. The back-and-forth period had the fans on the edge of their seats. The goalless first period wrapped up in an even 12 shots on target for each team, proving how equal and even the first 20 minutes were.
Once the second period had gone underway, Maine came close to scoring from a firing shot by second-year forward Lila Shea that went an inch wide. As the play went on, it continued to be an intense and close battle between the Terriers and the Black Bears. BU managed to break the no-goal spell first on a power play advantage. A scramble in the box resulted in graduate student defender Tamara Giaquinto getting to the puck first to cleanly put it in the back of the net 11 minutes and 38 seconds into the play.
Maine doesn’t let this get them down as they persistently swarm BU’s zone with their attack. It pays off a couple minutes later, as the puck gets slotted into the net from first-year defender Kendall Sundby to end the second period 1 to 1. Either team could take the win in the last 20 minutes of the game.
In the first five minutes of the third and most crucial period, the offense on both teams showed promise in their attack. It’s the Terriers who end up capitalizing on their opportunity to sneak in a game-winning goal just under the halfway mark by third-year forward Riley Walsh.
With 10 minutes left and Maine desperate to tie the game, they pulled the first-year goalie, Kiia Lahtinen, for an extra attacker. This strategy didn’t work in their favor as BU managed to find the empty net on a breakaway to seal the win from graduate student forward Lindsay Bochna with two minutes left in the game. Lahtinen ended up making 35 saves for the Black Bears.
Next up, Maine is set to host No. 15, the University of Connecticut on Dec. 7 back at Alford Arena at 7 p.m. This will be their first matchup of the season against the Huskies, the overall series being 29-14-5 in favor of UConn.
