COLUMBUS, Ohio - Led by a goal and two assists from sophomore Jillian Kirchner, the ninth-ranked Boston University women's ice hockey team skated to a 5-3 win over Ohio State in a non-conference tilt on Friday evening at the OSU Ice Rink. Senior Sarah Russell and junior Melissa Anderson also posted multiple-point efforts, notching a goal and an assist each for the Terriers, who improve to 9-5-4.
BU jumped out to a 3-0 lead and seldom looked back with Kirchner factoring into each of the first three goals, two of which came on the Terriers' first two power-play opportunities of the contest. Freshman Jenelle Kohanchuk and sophomore Lauren Cherewyk also lit the lamp for BU, while senior Allyse Wilcox stopped 28 shots between the pipes.
Three different Buckeyes scored goals, while freshman Laura McIntosh tallied a pair of assists. Sophomore Deidre Facklis started in net for OSU and made eight saves, but was chased from the game after BU erupted for four first-period goals and was replaced by senior Liana Bonanno, who stopped 17 shots over the final two frames.
Both teams scored on every power play in the first period as the Terriers went 2-for-5 in the game, while the Buckeyes were 1-for-4. Russell opened the scoring for BU on the power play 2:15 into the game, taking a feed from junior Sarah Appleton and ripping a shot from the point for her first goal of the season. Kirchner doubled the Terriers' lead at the 9:14 mark with an unassisted even-strength goal, stealing the puck in front of the BU bench and taking it all the way before flipping it over Facklis' shoulder for her sixth tally of the season.
The Terriers converted another power-play opportunity at 11:21 of the opening stanza when Kohanchuk redirected a one-timer from Russell after getting a pass from Kirchner to score her eighth goal. Ohio State broke through on its first power play of the evening when junior Rachel Davis knocked in a rebound after sophomore Shannon Reilly's offering was saved by Wilcox. BU put the exclamation point on its four-goal first in the final second when senior Caroline Bourdeau gained the puck in the defensive zone and dished to Anderson, who broke away in a two-on-one, taking it herself for her fifth goal of the season.
The Buckeyes got back within two goals early in the second when freshman Kim Theut found the puck in traffic and slipped in a low-angle shot at 1:28. The Terriers answered at 12:10 in the middle period when senior Erin Seman found Anderson streaking up the ice with only a defenseman to beat. Anderson dropped the pack back for Cherewyk, who fired in her eighth goal of the season.
Junior Michele Tonnessen attempted to spur an OSU comeback when she deposited a wrister in the back of the net at 16:50 of the thrid period, but BU held off the Buckeyes for the rest of the contest, withstanding an extra OSU attacker for the final minute.
The Terriers will look to complete the sweep of Ohio State when the squads wrap up a two-game series on Saturday (Jan. 3) at 4 p.m. at the OSU Ice Rink before BU returns home to host Hockey East rival Northeastern on Thursday (Jan. 8) at 7 p.m. at Walter Brown Arena in Boston. Live streaming video of all home games this season is available through GoTerriers.com.