BOSTON - Junior Jonnie Bloemers scored the game-winning goal with 2:48 to go in the third period to lift the Boston University women's ice hockey team to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over No. 5 Mercyhurst on Saturday afternoon at Walter Brown Arena. The Lakers (1-1) are the highest-ranked team that the Terriers (2-2) have beaten in the four-year history of the program.
"Our goal is to beat teams like this, play with teams like this and win our share and today was one of those times, the highest team we've beaten," said head coach Brian Durocher, who has guided the team since its inception. "It's exciting and I think the kids were terribly excited. They did it in fashion because they did it with a pretty darn good last period where maybe you could say we dominated a little bit or controlled the play on the ice."
Bloemers' goal capped a third-period rally from a 2-0 deficit that Mercyhurst staked out in the first period. Despite a 23-8 advantage in shots on goal in the second period, the Terriers were unable to break through until the final frame and came away empty after a 1:15 two-man advantage midway through the second.
Sophomore Jillian Kirchner began the comeback, putting in a backhanded flip to the top of the net three minutes into the period for her second goal of the season with assists coming from freshman Jenelle Kohanchuk and senior Gina Kearns.
Less than a minute later, senior Erin Seman leveled the score when junior Melissa Anderson won a face-off at the left dot and passed back to Seman, who ripped a one-timer from near the blue line to knot the game at two and tally her first goal of the season.
Bloemers' heroics came in the 58th minute of the contest. Seman got the puck to freshman Jenelle Kohanchuk, who unleashed a shot from close range that was saved by the Lakers' senior goalie Courtney Drennen, but the rebound came right to Bloemers who was able to bang in the puck to give BU the lead with her second career game-winner against a nationally ranked opponent.
"Sometimes hard work pays off," said Bloemers. "It was all luck, just being in the right place at the right time."
Mercyhurst put the Terriers in a hole in the first minute of the game when freshman Kelley Steadman netted her first career goal just 58 seconds in with sophomore Lauren Ragen recording her first career point for the assist. Senior Hayley McMeekin made it 2-0 later in the first with her second goal in as many days.
The Lakers had a 12-9 edge in shots in the first period, but BU held a 33-16 advantage thereafter. "I think after the second period we really picked it up a lot," said Kirchner. "We outshot them, we outplayed them and we capitalized in the third period."
Senior Allyse Wilcox made 26 saves to earn the win for the Terriers and was flawless in goal for the final two frames. Drennen stopped 39 shots across the ice in defeat for Mercyhurst.
BU continues a six-game homestand on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 3 p.m. hosting Clarkson at Walter Brown Arena. Live streaming video is available for all home games this season through BU All-Access.