By Rachel Blauner
BU News Service
It was a successful outing for the BU women’s hockey team at Walter Brown Arena Sunday, as junior forward Rebecca Leslie tallied her 100th career point on an assist to redshirt sophomore Anna Streifel, who scored her first collegiate goal in a 5-2 win over Providence College.
The Terriers hosted the Friars in the back half of the teams’ home-and-home series, the first game of which ended in a 5-5 tie Saturday after a third-period comeback by Providence. Leslie, an Ottawa native and longtime member of Canadian youth national teams, scored two goals in Saturday’s tilt, leaving her just shy of the 100-point club. Her assist to Streifel sealed the deal.
Leslie attributed the career achievement to her teammates.
“I think it’s a great accomplishment, but it comes from a lot of the great players that I played with,” Leslie said. “I learned a lot my first year here and was lucky enough to play in some key situations, so I’m just thankful for that.”
Terrier head coach Brian Durocher, now in his 12th season, said that Leslie’s role on the team is vital to BU’s success.
“She’s a fabulous player—very talented skating skills, puck possession skills. There’s nothing to say that she can’t have a great end to the year,” Durocher said. “We’ll need her if we’re going to get some trophies and be playing at the end of the year.”
Durocher showed excitement after the victory, the first for the Terriers since the start of 2017.
“We haven’t played well in the early part of the game since the break,” he said, adding that the slow starts might result from the team’s lack of readiness when the first puck drops.
“It’s all about them knowing the level of compete they’ve got to have and not being shocked by something. Fool me once, fool me twice, but it’s been too many times in a short period,” Durocher said.
Streifel, a player that does not always see much time on the ice, has made an impact in the past few games and was rewarded with her first collegiate goal against the Friars. Durocher attributed it to the forward’s never-ending work ethic.
“She’s a big kid. She works her tail off,” Durocher said. “Nobody’s worked harder the last two and a half years. I’m terribly happy for her, as are her teammates.”
Streifel’s goal came in the first period and helped the Terriers get the win over their Hockey East rival. For Streifel, the feeling of scoring her first career goal was best described in one word.
“Just complete euphoria, I suppose, would maybe be the best term to describe it. It was really fun to finally get a goal,” Streifel said.
After Leslie opened the scoring and Streifel added to it, junior transfer Nina Rodgers potted two goals and freshman Abby Cook scored to round out the Terrier offensive effort and salt the game away.
The Terriers (13-8-5, 8-7-4 WHEA) are now 16-1-1 in their last 18 games against the Friars. They have only one more game, a Jan. 28 contest at Merrimack, before the start of the annual Beanpot tournament, which begins for BU with a Jan. 31 matchup with rival Boston College.
