BOSTON, Mass. -The Huskies fought a close game with BU but ultimately fell 3-2 in the final game of the season on Sunday at Matthews Arena. The Terriers scored two unanswered goals in the final five minutes from Julie Poulin and Laurel Koller to take the win, while Erin Reil and Alyssa Wohlfeiler scored for NU.
The first period of the game was very evenly played. The Huskies had a slight shot advantage of 9-7 and both teams were whistled for two penalties. The only difference was that the Huskies were able to capitalize on their powerplay after Amanda Shaw was called for tripping at 17:53. With pressure in the offensive zone, Alyssa Wohlfeiler took a shot that was saved by BU goalie Melissa Haber. Assistant captain Erin Reil was there for the rebound but her shot was saved by Haber. Again Reil grabbed her rebound and put it over the left shoulder of Haber for the first goal of the game, her third of the season at the one minute mark.
The second period was just as tight as the first, with the Terriers having the 10-9 shot advantage. BU was able to tie it up at 4:53 in the frame when Melissa Anderson shot the puck over NU goale Leah Sulyma's shoulder for her 16th goal of the season, assisted by Lauren Cherewyk. Anderson almost put the Terriers up again, but the whistle had been blown for a crease violation just before she took her shot.
The Huskies also had their chances in the period but hit a few post and shot the puck just wide to keep the game scored.
The third period belonged to the Terriers as they put 18 shots on goal, two more than they had in the entire game. NU freshman was able to score her sixth goal of the season from Ali Bielawski and Annie Hogan at 6:15 to put the Huskies up. But BU's shot count came back to haunt the Huskies as the Terriers scored two unanswered goals with under five minutes remaining to take the win.
The first goal was scored by Julie Poulin at 15:00, assisted by Caroline Bourdeau and Jonnie Bloemers. Then, at 17:33 Laurel Koller tallied the game-winner with an assist by captain Gina Kearns.
The Huskies pulled Sulyma with under two minutes left in favor of an extra skater but Kristi Kehoe was called for tripping with under 30 seconds left and Sulyma was brought back in.
Wohlfeiler almost tied up the game in the last few seconds, but her backhanded shot, which went behind Haber, did not pass the goal line and the Huskies left with the loss.
On the day, Sulyma managaed 31 saves, the 20th time this season she's made 30 or more saves. She has a season total of 973 which is second on NU's single-season saves list and the highest total ever by a freshman. Erin Reil's goal was especially noteworthy as she played in the 100th game of her career.
Wohlfeiler finishes her rookie season second among freshmen on the Huskies in scoring with a final scoring line of 6-6-12. She took a team-high four shots and finished +1 on the day.
Leading the team in points this season was freshman Kristi Kehoe with a scoring line of 11-14-25, followed by Chelsey Jones, who led the team in goals with 13 and added 9 assists for 22 points. Captain Nikki Petrich scored 11 goals and 9 assists for 20 points in her final season. For her career Petrich amassed 40 goals and 43 assists for 83 points.
The Huskies finish their season at 7-24-3, and 6-14-1 in Hockey East. It marks a two-win improvement for the young team and also moves them up one spot from last year in the Hockey East rankings.