MADISON, Wis. — The Boston University women’s hockey team fell to Clarkson, 3-1, in the NCAA regional semifinal at LaBahn Arena.
Here are three takeaways from the No. 11 Terriers (24-12-2, 18-7-2 Hockey East) loss to the No. 9 Golden Knights (25-12-2, 13-8-1 ECAC), plus how it happened.
BU never got in a rhythm
Simply put, the Terriers struggled to sustain possession in the offensive zone. They were limited to only three shots in the first period.
BU struggled to break out of its defensive zone as Clarkson’s forecheck was stout. While the second period was better for the Terriers, offense only came in short spurts.
The third period was much the same as the first, with the Golden Knights hemming in BU. Senior netminder Callie Shanahan kept the Terriers in the game, making 27 saves.
Clarkson’s high-end talent was too much for BU
The Golden Knights top forward line of juniors Sena Catterall, Rhea Hicks, and graduate Anne Cherkowski has combined for 115 points this season. They combined for five on Thursday night.
Not to mention their top defensive pair of graduate Nicole Gosling and senior Haley Winn, who’ve chipped in 82 points of their own.
All five possess elite speed and puck skills, which caused fits for BU early and often. They also trotted out as the top power play unit.
Clarkson’s power play
The Golden Knights entered the contest converting 33 percent of their power play opportunities — the second-best mark in the nation.
On its first player advantage of the game, it took Clarkson all of 16 seconds to cash in. While BU killed the Golden Knights’ second power play, the Terriers were hemmed in their own zone for the first 1:25 of that kill.
How it happened:
Cherkowski opened the scoring at 5:09 into regulation. Cherkowski carried the puck into the offensive zone and beat Shanahan from the right circle.
Clarkson pushed its lead to 2-0 on the power play at 5:40 of the first. A backdoor tap-in by Hicks finished off a beautiful play.
With an empty-net, graduate forward Lindsay Bochna clean up a rebound to get BU on the board at 15:59 of the third period.
Catterall found the back of the empty-net at 19:25 to make it 3-1 Clarkson.
