BOSTON - The sixth-ranked Boston University women's ice hockey team claimed a shootout win after skating to a 3-3 tie with seventh-ranked New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon at Walter Brown Arena. Freshman Jenelle Kohanchuk had a three-point game for the Terriers and junior goaltender Melissa Haber stopped all three shots she faced in the shootout as BU moved to 8-4-4 overall and 6-1-0 in Hockey East play.
Faced with a 3-1 deficit in the third period, the Terriers rallied to tie the game and take it to a shootout. UNH junior Micaela Long had her shot stopped by Haber and BU junior Melissa Anderson's effort was saved by sophomore Kayley Herman in the first round. UNH sophomore Jenn Wakefield's second-round shot missed before BU senior Laurel Koller scored the only goal of the shootout, flipping the puck up on the near side to beat Herman. Senior Sam Faber needed to score to keep the shootout going, but Haber was well-positioned to collect the save.
After losing every game against the Wildcats prior to this season, the Terriers fashioned a Hockey East sweep of the three-time defending conference champions this season with one win in regulation and two coming via the shootout.
"We've built this thing over four years with implementing scholarships and adding quality players," said BU head coach Brian Durocher. "We've had great kids who have gotten us started and been the foundation of this program, but now we think we've got a talent level that's pretty close to New Hampshire."
The Terriers jumped on the scoreboard early when Kohanchuk opened the scoring 2:36 into the first. Junior Sarah Appleton caused a turnover at the right point and dished to Kohanchuk, who took it towards the net herself and scored up top on a backhand shot from a low angle to the right of the net.
New Hampshire took over the lead with a pair of goals in the second period. Midway through the frame on the power play, senior Kacey Bellamy sent the puck in from the blue line to Wakefield, who was stationed to the left of the net and put in her 13th goal of the season to level the score. Faber put the Wildcats on top late in the period when she came in on the right side and got the puck over Haber into the net.
UNH pushed its lead to two goals at 8:14 of the third when Bellamy ripped a shot from the left circle that deflected off a defenseman and gave the Wildcats a 3-1 lead.
BU took advantage of a power-play opportunity to get back within one at the 10:53 mark. Kohanchuk took a close-range shot that Herman turned aside, but freshman Tara Watchorn was there on the other side to put the rebound into the open net. With under two minutes to go, Kohanchuk again took a shot that was saved, but Anderson found the rebound in traffic in front of the net and knocked in the equalizer.
Nothing else got past the goaltenders for the remainder of regulation and the five-minute overtime period as Haber made 29 saves in the contest and Herman stopped 23 shots. Each team was an identical 1-for-5 on the power play. The Terriers are back in action on Wednesday (Dec. 10), hosting Hockey East rival No. 8 Boston College at 5 p.m. at Walter Brown Arena.