BOSTON, Mass. - Junior Tara Watchorn and sophomore Jill Cardella tallied one goal each as the No. 5 Boston University women's ice hockey team edged Princeton, 2-1, in a non-conference game at Agganis Arena on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Terriers swept their weekend series with the Tigers and improved to 11-2-3 (3-1-3 HEA).
BU, which improved to 3-0-1 all-time at Agganis Arena, skated itself to a 2-0 lead with goals in the first and second periods before Princeton halved the Terriers' advantage with less than six minutes remaining in the middle frame. A scoreless third period followed to account for the 2-1 final.
Freshman Marie-Philip Poulin (2a) and junior Jenelle Kohanchuk (1a) also registered points for the Terriers, while sophomore Alissa Fromkin turned aside 23 shots for her third win of the season. Princeton's Rachel Weber made 29 saves.
The Terriers went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Princeton was 0-for-2. BU outshot the Tigers by a 31-24 margin and dominated faceoffs, 36-16.
With 4:51 remaining in the opening period, Watchorn gave the Terriers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal. Kohanchuk collected Poulin's pass behind the net and had her wraparound attempt turned aside by Weber. The rebound came out to Watchorn, who fired a shot from inside the right circle for the goal.
The Terriers skated to a 2-0 advantage in the second stanza before Princeton halved BU's lead later in frame. Cardella and Poulin connected to give the Terriers a two-goal advantage at 6:06. Poulin skated down the right-wing boards, maneuvered around a pair of Princeton players while skating toward the net and slid a cross-crease pass to Cardella. The Rochester, N.Y., native then one-timed the puck into the back of the net.
With 5:56 left in the frame, Princeton's Olivia Mucha cut the deficit to 2-1 with her first goal of the season.
In the final period, Princeton registered 12 shots but the Terrier defense kept the Tigers off the scoreboard. With less than seven minutes remaining in the game, Princeton registered the frame's best scoring chance. Fromkin turned aside the Tigers' initial attempt but the rebound came to Corey Stearns, who was looking at a vacated Terrier net. She slid the puck toward the goal line, but junior Kasey Boucher thwarted the opportunity with a diving stick save.
The Tigers twice pulled Weber in favor of an extra attacker during the final 1:41 of the game, but the Terriers preserved the one-goal lead.
BU will return to Hockey East action on Dec. 4 when it visits Connecticut. Opening faceoff is set at 1 p.m.