Hockey East Roundup: Oct. 25-27, 2024
BC sweeps No. 5 Clarkson, Merrimack has strong performance over Lindenwood, and Providence/BU get set for a highly-contested weekend set in this week's recap.
In the last weekend of action for the month of October, Hockey East decided to get spooky, with a couple weekend sweeps and some outstanding performances across the board. We’re breaking it down here, so let’s get to it.
Series of the Week: BC Sweeps Rug out from under Clarkson
I swear this conference finds a new way to surprise me every single week. Last time it was BU. Earlier this semester it was Merrimack and Holy Cross. And now it’s BC who swept a top-five nationally ranked Clarkson team that was previously undefeated heading into the weekend.
You know, no big deal.
In the Saturday game of the weekend series, all credit to the Eagles for limiting a Clarkson offense to their lowest shot total of the year. The Golden Knights were only able to muster 27, with all but one being turned away by Grace Campbell. And yes, the numbers are skewed with two 80+ SOG performances early in the year for Clarkson, but still this is a team that is consistently hitting around 40 shots on average.
Julia Pellerin capitalized on a Clarkson turnover halfway through the first period to notch the first goal of the game for BC. It was a tie game heading into intermission thanks to Baylee Kirwan, but a late penalty on Nicole Gosling for interference let the BC power play go to work to start the middle frame. 20 seconds into the second, it was phenom Sammy Taber who scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal for BC, and the Eagles never looked back.
Gaby Roy added a third goal to extend the BC lead late in the third, and it was overall too much for Clarkson to overcome as the Eagles flew away with it. I always like to look at the biggest discrepancies on a score chart. On this one, the stat that stands out is blocked shots. Clarkson got in the way of six pucks, which is a decent number until you realize that BC blocked 17 of their own.
These blocked chances carried over into the second game of the series, in which BC got in the way of 20 shots to Clarkson’s repeat of six. The Golden Knights pushed heavily on the home-team, firing off 44 shots on goal and scoring two goals early in the third period thanks to Rhea Hicks and Anne Cherkowski, who tallied her second of the season on the power play.
However, 30 seconds after the Cherkowski strike, Katie Pyne responded with a goal of her own, and just over 10 minutes into the frame the game was tied by Roy. The goal came off great efforts from both Alanna Devlin and Roy, with the former getting around the defensive pressure along the boards to find the latter in front. Roy then broke around a skater defending the net to bury it five-hole on Holly Gruber.
BC scored the game-winner with just 2:25 left after a bad turnover in the neutral zone allowed Pellerin to drive to the net all alone. The forward wasted no time in burying the puck to secure the win.
Overall it was an incredible showing for the Eagles, as they mounted a two goal comeback in the third period in game two and overall were fairly suffocating against a top-offensive team. For a squad that lost to Holy Cross two weeks ago, none of that shakiness appeared here, as they handed the Golden Knights their first two losses of the season.
Weekly Awards:
Player of the Week: Maria Lindberg, F, Merrimack
Merrimack didn’t get a lot of love this week, but they were outstanding against Lindenwood in a two game set. They outscored the Lions 9-2 in the series, and were heavily helped by the sophomore Lindberg. The forward had two goals and three assists in two games, including an assist on the game-winner on Saturday, and extended her point streak to four games.
Pro-Ambitious Rookie of the Week: Lola Reid, F, BU
After an outstanding showing last weekend, Reid continued to display her skill on the ice with a three goal weekend against Syracuse. The freshman scored twice in the Terriers 4-1 win on Friday, including the game-winner. She extended her point streak to five games, and now leads the conference in goals and scoring overall with six goals and 11 points.
Army ROTC Defender of the Week: Molly Jordan, D, BC
One of the many reasons the Eagles were able to suffocate the Clarkson offense was because of Jordan, who blocked seven shots across the weekend. She also had three points in the two games, including a game-tying goal on Saturday, and helped set up Pyne’s score to kick start the Eagles comeback on Sunday.
Stop It Goaltender of the Week: Grace Campbell, BC
In the aforementioned sweep of Clarkson, Campbell was a brick wall against the Golden Knights. She made 67 saves across two games, including a season-high 41 of 44 on Sunday. After giving up a goal against Clarkson late in the first on Saturday, the junior stopped the next 14 shots she faced en route to the win.
Weekly Scoreboard:
Friday:
Conference:
UVM 4 at UNH 3
Providence 2 vs. Northeastern 1
Non-Conference:
Colgate 8 vs. Maine 3
Merrimack 5 vs. Lindenwood 1
BU 4 at Syracuse 1
Saturday:
Conference:
UNH 3 vs UVM 2 in OT
Non-Conference:
Merrimack 4 vs. Lindenwood 1
BC 3 vs. Clarkson 1
Colgate 4 vs. Maine 1
BU 3 at Syracuse 2
Sunday:
Non-Conference:
BC 4, at Clarkson 3
What to Watch: BU/Providence – Friday at BU, 3 PM & Saturday at Prov, 3 PM
These are two teams that have a lot to prove heading into November. The Terriers have started off strong, and played two non-conference matchups against Syracuse this past weekend in which they beat the home team twice. Meanwhile the Friars played just one game, and while they were outplayed for the most part by Northeastern in the Friday matchup, they came away with the win off a great goal in transition from transfer Sarah Davies.
The focus now turns to how the teams matchup against one another, especially considering how Providence has a habit of playing up or down to their opponents this season. The two are fairly even in a lot of statistics – records (BU is 6-3-0 while Providence is 5-3-0), goals for (24 for BU and 26 for Providence), and goals against (15 BU, 12 Providence).
With all of this in mind, it’ll be interesting to see how things shake out in the home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday. BU is riding a bit of a hotter streak than the Friars, as they’re unbeaten in their last five games after starting the season 1-3-0. Providence on the other hand is just 3-2-0 in the same five game span, however that win against Northeastern could bolster them.
Prediction: Weekend split here. I think each team gets the win at home, but take my predictions with a grain of salt – they haven’t been very accurate. I do expect the BU penalty kill to be lights out when it matches up against a Providence power play that has now gone 0-for-16 after starting the year red-hot against Saint Michael’s.
Full Upcoming Schedule:
All times in EST, streaming details available here
Friday:
UVM at Maine – 2 PM
Providence at BU – 3 PM
Holy Cross at UConn – 6 PM
Northeastern at UNH – 6 PM
Saturday:
UConn at Holy Cross – 2 PM
UVM at Maine – 2 PM
UNH at Northeastern – 2 PM
Merrimack at BC – 2 PM
BU at Providence – 3 PM
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