By Torrance Latham
BU News Service
The Clarkson women’s hockey team defeated Boston University, 4-1, at Walter Brown Arena on Saturday, completing the two-game sweep in back-to-back nights.
No. 9 BU (3-3-0) trailed by one entering the third period, before Clarkson’s junior center Genevieve Bannon scored twice to help the No. 4 Clarkson Golden Knights (7-0-0) pull away to remain undefeated.
BU freshman Sammy Davis scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season, but it would prove to not be enough to hold off the Golden Knights’ attack, as BU was outshot 41-23.
Though the Terriers had great opportunities to score throughout the game, penalties played a paramount role in the shot disparity.
“We took way to many penalties that weren’t necessary,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “They were (out of) frustration/retaliation and we have to be mentally tougher than that. When you keep burning up a lot of energy killing penalties beyond the defense and having less time to score goals, it adds up.”
The Terriers sought to improve their first stanza scoring struggles, finding the net merely once this season (which came in last night’s loss), but BU center Dakota Woodworth’s controversial goal was rescinded following a review by the officials. Clarkson quickly responded at the 15:54 mark of the first period when senior right wing Olivia Howe snuck a goal past BU.
Howe scored another goal midway through the second period to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead.
Davis was able to get a goal past Clarkson’s sophomore goalie Shea Tilley (22 saves) with 1:26 to play in the second period. Woodworth intercepted a Clarkson pass following the Terriers’ failure to take advantage of an offensive-zone faceoff, and she set the puck up effortlessly in front of the net for Davis to capitalize.
Bannon iced the game by scoring her first two goals of the season in the final seven minutes left in the final period.
Despite giving up four goals, BU sophomore goalie has shown signs of improvement. She tied her career-high with 37 saves, 14 of them coming in the third period. Her impressive goaltending spearheaded the Terriers’ stifling defense on Clarkson’s penalty kill opportunities, blanking their power play goal attempts on five separate occasions.
“I thought she gave us a chance to win,” said Durocher. “The first six or seven times they held the puck, she was back there real quick. That’s something that may waver when she’s not feeling good about herself, but today I saw that confidence right away. I think that carried into her puck stopping.”
Despite the weekend sweep, BU still holds the all-time series lead over Clarkson at 5-3-1.
The Terriers return to Hockey East play this upcoming weekend with two conference games. The Terriers will travel roughly 15 minutes to Matthews Arena as they face off against in-town rival Northeastern on Saturday at 2 p.m. The following day they host Vermont at Walter Brown on Sunday at 3 p.m.
