BOSTON - The No. 5 Boston University women's ice hockey team extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games with a 3-2 win over New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon at Walter Brown Arena.
BU (17-3-3, 12-2-1 WHEA) had gone 9-0-2 in its last 11 games entering Sunday, with the Terriers' last loss coming against New Hampshire (10-13-2, 6-6-1 WHEA) on Nov. 9. The win also secured a perfect January for BU (6-0-0); the last time the Terriers went perfect in January was during the 2010-11 season, when BU boasted a 7-0-0 January record.
Senior Isabel Menard scored the game-winning goal at the 11:06 mark of the second period to break a 2-2 deadlock. Junior Shannon Doyle and sophomore Shannon Stoneburgh each added a goal in the victory. Junior goaltender Kerrin Sperry made 21 saves for her 14th victory of the season, including 11 saves in the second period.
Stoneburgh scored the first goal of the game at the 13:41 mark of the first period. Freshman Sarah Lefort began a rush up the left wing and sent a centering feed for junior co-captain Marie-Philip Poulin in the middle. The pass was broken up, but Stoneburgh trailed the play and corralled the puck in the slot. She tried a backhand feed to Lefort, but that pass was also blocked. The puck bounced right back to Stoneburgh, however, and she slid a backhander into an open net for her fourth goal of the season.
Doyle made it a 2-1 game on the power play. Senior co-captain Jill Cardella collected the puck in the left corner and pushed it to senior Jenelle Kohanchuk. The senior forward cycled the puck back to the left point for Doyle, who slid to the top of the zone and fired a shot through a Lefort screen and past UNH goaltender Jenn Gilligan (30 saves).
UNH tied the game at the 4:25 mark of the middle period when Jessica Hitchcock scored her eighth goal of the season. That was the only blemish of Sperry's second stanza, as she made 11 saves in those 20 minutes.
A pretty give-and-go between Menard and junior Louise Warren set up the game-winning goal. Junior Kaleigh Fratkin started the rush with a dish to Menard, who streaked up the right wing into the Wildcats' zone. She split three defenders with a pass to Warren on the left wing, who then dished it right back to Menard on the right post for an easy tap-in.
The Terriers' penalty killers were terrific against a UNH power play that had entered the game ranked eighth in the nation. BU killed all four Wildcat power plays, all of which came in the final two periods.
The Wildcats pulled their goaltender with 2:28 remaining in regulation, but BU held strong in its own zone to preserve the win. Warren had a key block on a Megan Armstrong shot at the top of the Terrier zone late in regulation as part of a strong defensive effort in the waning seconds.
The Terriers will return to action on Saturday (Feb. 2) when they host Northeastern at Walter Brown Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 3 p.m.