St. Paul, Minn. - In a gripping and physical game, the Boston University women's ice hockey team opened the season with a 2-2 tie against North Dakota on Friday at the Nike Bauer Women's Classic in St. Paul, Minn. Although the Terriers stayed on the offensive for much of the game, the Fighting Sioux would not go away, scoring after each of Boston University's goals to keep the game knotted. Terrier goals in the first and second period were equalized by North Dakota goals in the second and third.
Even though Boston University put 21 shots on goal in the third period, North Dakota's goaltender saved them all to force a five-minute sudden death overtime. The Terriers soon got into trouble after a cross-checking penalty on junior Amanda Shaw put the team a man down. But the defense stymied the North Dakota attack, limiting the team to only one shot during the period to secure a tie.
The Terriers controlled the pace for the majority of the game, constantly putting pressure on the Sioux goaltender. Over the course of the afternoon, BU players totaled 42 shots on goal, but goaltender Brittany Kirkham put forth a great effort and stopped 40 of them.
Junior Erin Seman scored Boston University's first goal of the season in the first period with 10:34 left on the clock. With the Terriers on the power play, senior Julie Poulin rocketed a shot on goal that the netminder deflected. Sophomore Melissa Anderson recovered the rebound and forwarded the puck to junior co-captain Gina Kearns, who set Seman up for the close shot that put BU on the board.
North Dakota stuck back in the second period, putting itself on the board with 11 minutes left in the period. Stephanie Roy took a short-range shot that was deflected by junior Allyse Wilcox, but Emily Snell recovered the puck and slipped it past the Terrier netminder to tie the game.
BU pulled ahead again with 10:20 left in the second period, when junior Laurel Koller snagged the puck on defense and drove across the ice to sink home the team's second goal of the day. Koller's shot was deflected by the goaltender straight into goal.
The Fighting Sioux aggressively attacked the goal in the third period, putting seven shots on goal. The most important was Cassandra Flanagan's one-timer on a pass from Randi Motsko with 11:41 left in the third period that turned out to be the day's final goal.
The game's intensity kicked up another notch during the five-minute sudden death overtime, when the shots were limited by great defensive efforts. Shaw drew a cross-checking penalty 43 seconds into overtime to give North Dakota the power play, but the resilient Terrier defense held the fort. Wilcox deftly blocked UND's three shots during the period, making some impressive saves. During an exciting final few moments, BU attacked the goal with fury but could only muster one shot, which was fielded by the netminder.
The teams went to a shoot-out, even though the outcome was purely academic and was not allowed to affect the final score. Sophomore Melissa Anderson took the first shot, but the goaltender saved the shot going to her left side. Wilcox returned the favor, saving Ashley Paulson's right-side shot as well. Kearns scored the shoot-out's first goal, crossing in front of the goal and shooting the puck between the netminder's legs. Wilcox saved ensuing shots from Motsko and Melissa Jaques, while freshman Holly Lorms and junior Erin Seman scored on Kirkham by attacking her right side.
The Terrier women get right back at it tomorrow evening, taking on #5 Minnesota at 7:00 p.m. CT in the concluding game of the Nike Bauer Women's Classic at Ridder Arena in St. Paul, Minn.