by Greg Picker

Top 5 Moments

1.  Hockey East Championship Game, 2-1 Win over UConn: Defenseman Tara Watchorn (‘12) scored on a shot from the blue line at 9:52 of overtime to give the Terriers their first ever Hockey East Championship and first ever spot in the NCAA Tournament in the team’s fifth year as a varsity program.

2.  Hockey East Semi-final Game, 4-0 Win over New Hampshire: On the strength of a 17 save shut out by Goaltender Melissa Haber (’10), BU defeated the #5 team in the nation in the time and the only other Hockey East team to eventually earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament.

3. February 6th: 5-2 Win over New Hampshire: Despite the fact that the Terriers were out shot 34-9, BU came away with the win. This game seemed to be the starting point of Haber’s phenomenal run towards the end of the season. Including this game and ignoring the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, Haber only allowed seven goals in the last seven games she played of the season.

4. Senior Day: 2-0 Win over Maine: Although it was a penalty filled affair, the Terriers clinched themselves the third seed in the Hockey East Tournament as the eight seniors on this years roster went out on a winning note in their last regular season game in Walter Brown.

5. First Round NCAA Tournament: 4-1 Loss Against Mercyhurst: Despite the fact that the Terriers lost to this game, it was still an enormous step in the program. It was the first game that BU Women’s Ice Hockey had ever played in the NCAA Tournament, and going against the top team in the country, many expected the Terriers to be blown out. The entire way though, the Terriers stayed in the game, and only until the final few minutes was it apparent that the late season run would come to an end.

Worst 5 Moments

1. February 20, Holly Lorms Injured: In the waning few minutes of a 3-1 win against Maine, forward Holly Lorms (’11) was involved in a collision while on the power play. Lorms laid face down on the ice motionless for several minutes until paramedics were able to put her on a stretcher and take her to the hospital. Lorms suffered some damage to ligaments between her fifth and sixth vertebrae. Despite the fact she missed the rest of the season, she is however expected to make a full recovery and be able to play next year for her senior season

2. January 22, Jenelle Kohanchuk Injures Thumb: Near the top of the leaderboard for points among Terriers all season until that point, Jenelle Kohanchuk (’12) suffered a thumb injury and was forced to miss five weeks of play as a result. She was able to return for all four post season games BU played in. One of the highlights of the first half of the season was Kohanchuk’s four-goal outburst in a four to two win against Wayne State on October 17.

3. Beanpot Consolation Game, 1-1 Tie with BC: After falling in a shootout following a four goal comeback in the first round of the Beanpot, a week earlier against Northeastern, BU wanted to prove that it should have indeed been in the Beanpot Final and that a shooutout should not have proven the winner a week before. The Terriers however could not come out on top against BC, the weakest of the four Boston area schools this season.

4. January 29, 2-0 Loss Against UConn: The second half of the season was in full swing, and the Terriers two valuable points were up for grabs at home against a team they need they would be fighting with for positioning in the Hockey East Standings. The loss motivated BU as it was the last game the Terriers would lose, not in a shootout, for over a month and a half, with the next one coming in the NCAA Tournament. BU’s next match up against the Huskies would be in the Hockey East Championship Game. Finding extra motivation in the fact that UConn was the only team to shutout the Terriers all season long helped BU come out on top.

5. October 24, 7-2 Loss Against Clarkson: An early season non conference loss against a good team does not seem like such a big deal, however it would be the last game until the Terriers started off the Hockey East schedule. This game would also turn out to be the most goals conceded by BU all season long. It would also end up being one of the few games in which Haber did not play well as she gave up seven goals in two periods of work.

by Sandeep Chandrasekhar

After an embarrassing performance in the 2009 Beanpot semifinal against Harvard and a disappointing effort in the 2009 Hockey East Tournament, the Boston University Terriers needed to take a drastic step forward for the overall growth of their women’s hockey program.  After all, eight prominent seniors, led by Melissa Anderson and Melissa Haber, were entering their final years as collegiate athletes and had one final chance to make a lasting impression on the program.  Did they ever?

In the 2009-10 season, the Boston Terriers had their most successful campaign in program history, winning the Hockey East championship for the first time in program history.  The Terriers concluded their Hockey East season, including the Hockey East Tournament, on a 10 game unbeaten streak and a program-record six game winning streak, captivated by sophomore defenseman Tara Watchorn’s golden overtime goal in the Hockey East championship game against the Connecticut Huskies to lead the Terriers into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

However, despite the late-season success, things started out mediocre for the Terriers.  The inconsistent early play was evidenced in their non-conference schedule, when they faced two prominent opponents on the road.  After the Terriers skated to an extremely competitive 2-2 tie against # 7 St. Lawrence, they were absolutely blasted by # 4 Clarkson 7-2, as they allowed seven goals in the first two periods of the game.

Then, the early conference schedule was filled with inconsistent play.  In fact, other than their two consecutive wins over Vermont and Providence on November 11 and November 14, the Terriers were unable to win two straight games all season until the middle of February.  The team ranked dead last in penalty kill through the 2009 calendar year, allowing opponents to score on an astounding 25 % of their power play opportunities.  Despite a high octane offense that ranked second in Hockey East, the Terriers committed an abundance of costly turnovers, which allowed opponents to score an average of 3.2 goals per game through the end of January.

The ultimate lowlight of the season came January 22 against Vermont, who was the worst team in Hockey East at the time.  The Terriers, after defeating Boston College, had a golden opportunity to jump from sixth to third in the Hockey East standings with two wins against the Catamounts.  Not only did the Terriers lose 2-1 to Vermont, they also lost top-scoring sophomore forward Jenelle Kohanchuk (’12) to a dislocated thumb injury, jeopardizing the rest of her reason.  The Terriers needed to regroup if they were going to have any chance at competing for the conference title.

Following a shutout loss to Connecticut after Kohanchuk’s injury, the turning point of the season came in the Beanpot semifinal against the Northeastern Huskies.  Despite losing in a shootout, the Terriers overcame a four goal deficit to send the game into overtime and ultimately found an identity on offense and defense.  The front line of freshman forward Jill Cardella (’13), junior forward Lauren Cherewyk (’11), and Melissa Anderson absolutely took off following this game.  They were responsible for 14 goals in the team’s final nine games and really played well as a unit.

Defensively, the Terriers stymied opponents, as sophomore defensemen Carly Warren (’12) and Tara Watchorn elevated their overall play of the team’s final nine games.  They got into shooting lanes, disrupted opponents, and did a better job of clearing the puck.  Finally, both goaltender Melissa Haber ended her career on a thunderous note, recording three shutouts during her senior campaign.  She made numerous clutch saves for the team and played with more confidence as the season wore on.

The Terriers headed into their conference tournament winning their final three regular season games and finally come together as a team.  First, they dominated puck possession in their 3-1 Hockey East quarterfinal victory over Boston College.  Then, the team played its most complete game of the season in the following week’s semifinal against the #5 ranked New Hampshire Wildcats.  The Terriers shutout the Wildcats 4-0, as each of the top three lines were responsible for a goal, the defense stymied the top-ranked UNH offense, and Melissa Haber recorded her program-record ninth career shutout.

Finally, the greatest moment in the five-year program history came in the Hockey East championship game against the UConn Huskies.  Both goalies came up huge in the grandest of moments, as the game remained tied 1-1 heading into overtime.  That was when Tara Watchorn blasted a slapshot from the blue line that got past UConn goalie Alexandra Garcia 9:52 into overtime.  Teammates mobbed Watchorn following the goal, as the Terriers won their first championship in program history.  It was the perfect ending to an unbelievable conference season, one that will stand above all in program history.

In the NCAA Tournament, the Terriers were upended by top-ranked Mercyhurst 4-1.  However, after a slow start to the season, the Terriers accomplished their goal of winning a conference championship and reaching the NCAA Tournament.

The eight seniors on the team can now cherish this memorable season for the rest of their lives, as they helped foster the growth of the Boston University Women’s Ice Hockey Program.

                                By Lee Feiner

Short stop Emily Roesch (’12) is so far ahead of schedule rehabbing a surgically repaired shoulder that last year’s America East Rookie of the Year, originally feared lost for the season might play as soon as March 20th against Hofstra.

The likely date of return however appears to be a week later for the home opener against Holy Cross on March 27th.This comes in the wake of Roesch’s replacement, Jayme Mask (’12), going down with a dislocated shoulder.

Masks’ initial tests looked positive but she will undergo an MRI sometime this week to determine the extent of the injury.

By Seth Orensky

The Terriers Men’s Basketball Team will travel to Oregon Wednesday to take on the Oregon State Beavers  in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational. This will be the first the time Terriers have played in the postseason since 2005 when the Terriers lost in the first round of the NIT to Georgetown 64-34. Oregon State is the defending champions of the tournament after knocking off UTEP in the finals two game to one.

The College Basketball Invitational is in its third year, the tournament has 16 teams with single elimination rounds played on the home court of the higher seed. After the first three rounds, the two finalists play a best of three series with game one on the lower seeds court and the second and possibly third at the home of the higher seed. Last year the Vermont Catamounts became the first America East to compete in the tournament and the Catamounts even won their first round matchup before falling to Oregon State at Corvallis in overtime.

Gametime is not set yet for the contest but as more information becomes available we will give you all the details. Unfortunately we will not be able to travel to cover the game but we will provide a preview, recap and sidebar of the game and hopefully a liveblog. Make sure to check back tommorrow for more information.

After a night to forget, Shattenkirk, C. Cohen, and Bonino extend Terriers’ season

by Chris Aliano

It’s no secret where the Boston University men’s hockey team’s success lies.

When the trio of Nick Bonino, Kevin Shattenkirk and Colby Cohen play well, the Terriers can go as far as the season allows them to go.  But when they are off their game, even to the slightest degree, the results are often disastrous.

This weekend’s quarterfinal series against Merrimack College was the prime example.  On Saturday night, the Big Three were visibly frustrated on the ice.  The Warriors were having their way with the Terriers, and it seemed like they could do no right against the scrappy squad from Andover.  Neither recorded any points in the overtime loss to the Warriors, and it was back to the drawing boards for Game 3–their season, and possibly their Boston University careers, on the line.

But then Sunday night rolled along, and in came Shattenkirk, the lone junior captain who has had to shoulder a tremendous load of pressure and responsibility; in came Bonino, who may not be having the type of statistical year he hoped to have had, but still is the main conductor of the Terrier Attack; in came Cohen, who was a healthy scratch once already this year, and who was responsible for the championship-clinching goal last season, but has often been a scapegoat for BU’s struggles this season.  In they came, and off they went.

Shattenkirk handed the Terriers their first lead since Friday night with a goal midway through the first period.  It marked the first time all weekend that BU got on the board first, and just like that, they were back.  The New Rochelle, NY native took a pass from–who else–Bonino, and wristed one by a screened Joe Cannata to bring Terrier Nation to its feet.

“Shattenkirk, Bonino, those guys are probably going to be playing in the NHL,” Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy said matter-of-factly afterward.  “Their best players played pretty well.”

Then came Cohen.  Last year’s hero put BU on top 2-0 with a minute to go in the first–or so he thought.  At the conclusion of an extremely delayed penalty–Tim Benedetto had his arm raised for nearly a minute–Colby appeared to have doubled BU’s lead.  He took an initial shot that was deflected up by Cannata, and he followed through on the rebound and even got some luck off of a Merrimack player’s skate to find the back of the net.  But the play was waved off, with the referee’s ruling that a Merrimack player had knocked the puck in midair, therefore nullifying the tally.  All that for nothing.

Until nearly thirty seconds later.

Bonino made sure his teammates efforts would not be in vain, as he walked in on Cannata moments into the power play, firing a shot that went off the goalie’s chest, and promptly put the rebound home for the actual second goal of the game.  The momentum shift was immense, and the play may be forgotten once the season comes to an end.  But tonight, the importance of Bonino’s efforts were not lost on anyone, especially his coach’s.

“I thought that was huge,” Parker said of the sequence of events leading to the goal.  “I thought there was no way it could be waved off, but I forgot they had the delayed power play.  If they didn’t it would have been a goal.  They made the correct call, and I thought it might have deflated us.”

Instead, the Terriers took a lead into the first intermission and weathered the storm through the second stanza.  Shattenkirk and Cohen led a poised BU defense that bent and broke one night earlier.  Despite being out-shot by the Warriors, the Terriers neutralized the Parisian phenom Stephane Da Costa, limiting the freshman to three shots on net and a -1 rating.

“Our real important guys answered the bell,” Parker said.  “They had tough nights last night, and they all bounced back.”

One player who didn’t have to bounce back was sophomore netminder Kieran Millan, who Parker has had nothing but praise for since the second half of the season began back in January, and who came up with his biggest performance of the season, earning his first shutout since the 2009 Hockey East Championship game against UMass-Lowell.

“I feel like shutouts are based on how well your team plays,” Millan said of the accomplishment.  “This year’s been a little tough, but everyone knows that playoffs are the most important time of the year.”

Millan’s efforts handed the Terriers a lead at the second intermission for the first time in ten games, and they would need every one of his 14 saves in the final stanza (34 total) to prevent Merrimack from upsetting Boston University for the second time in as many playoff meetings.  In 1998, the Warriors stunned a top-seeded Terriers squad in a series sweep, marking the only time Merrimack has advanced to the tournament semifinals.

“They frustrated us yesterday so we were trying a couple new looks,” Bonino said afterward.  “We were confident that we’d be able to come back and have a good night, and we were able to do that.”

“Tonight was a great showing of how we can play under pressure when it comes down to having the possibility of it being our last game of the year,” Shattenkirk said.  “Everyone came to the rink with the mindset that we had to win, and we knew what we had to do to make sure we win.”

With Vermont’s upset of top-seeded New Hampshire, the playoff field has been shaken up.  Instead of an anticipated meeting with archrival Boston College, the Terriers will now face fourth-seeded Maine in the late semifinal on Friday night.  In all likelihood, Boston University will be on the outside looking in if it cannot secure an automatic bid via defending its Hockey East Tournament crown.

It’s no secret that to do so, the Big Three will have to perform as they did tonight.

Millan the Man

Kieran Millan’s play was in question much of the first half this year. After his 34 save performance Sunday night it appears Millan is fully back to last year’s form. Millan finished the weekend with 92 saves on 97 shots and was the Terriers “shining light” the entire series.

“Our most important guy played great for the entire weekend,” Terrier head coach Jack Parker said. “Great to see him get a shutout.”

It was Millan’s and the Terriers first shutout of the season and the first since blanking UMass-Lowell in the 2009 Hockey East Championship game.

“Everyone knows this is the most important time of the year,” Millan said. “I am trying to turn this tough year into a success.”

With his brilliant play this weekend he has begun to silence the critics. Millan stopped 10 shots in the first two periods and then turned away 14 more in the final frame. Unlike other nights, Millan was not forced to make too many acrobatic saves but instead stayed simple and turned away every piece of rubber thrown his way. <>

Jekyll and Hyde Lives On 

When Robert Louis Stevenson was penning the masterpiece The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde he wasn’t writing it about the Terriers men’s hockey team. That hasn’t stopped the Terriers from acting just like Stevenson’s main character this year.

BU started sluggish with just four wins in the first half of the year, came burning out of the gates in 2010 but appeared to revert back to their first half form in a weekend set with Vermont.  Predicting the Terriers play has become as hard as predicting the weather in New England.

Even coach Parker is catching on the analogy.

“Jekyll and Hyde,” Parker said. “Friday night, yes there’s the BU hockey team. Saturday night, oh my god. Sunday night, yes there’s the BU hockey team.”

In a season of ups and downs, twists and turns, BU turned it on with their season on the line. One more loss means the end of the Terriers year but how to avoid that loss is still in question.

“I have no idea,” Parker said. “I’ll leave it up to my captains and my seniors.”

Follow the Leader 

The Terriers had not scored the first goal of the game in any of the previous three games heading into Sunday night. Even more, they had not led after two periods in their last nine games. That all changed Sunday as Kevin Shattenkirk buried a quick snap shot and Nick Bonino scored a goal on the doorstep to give the Terriers a 2-0 cushion heading into the third.

“It’s nice getting an early lead,” Millan said. “But its still a 60 minute game. We are going to try and get the first goal from now on but it’s the end result that matters.”

Scoring first as helped the Terriers this year as they boast a 14-6-0 record, while just they are 4-10-3 when they are scored on first. And with Sunday’s win they are now 10-1-1 on the year when leading after two periods.

Millan’s words carry a lot of confidence with them as well. This is a Terriers team that started the season 0-7-2 when trailing after the first period but has found a way to win two of the last three games that has occurred. BU did it on Friday night coming back from two goals down but made Merrimack chase them on Sunday in the decisive game three.