BOSTON - Freshman Maddie Elia's four-point effort helped lift the No. 10 Boston University women's ice hockey team to a 5-1 win over Maine on Saturday afternoon at Walter Brown Arena.
BU (8-1-1, 5-0-0 WHEA) trailed Maine (0-6-3, 0-2-3 WHEA), 1-0, after the first period, but scored three times in the second period to take the lead and keep it. Elia scored two goals and had assists on two others; her four points and two goals are both career highs.
Sophomore Sarah Lefort and senior captain Louise Warren each had a goal and an assist for two-point afternoons. Ten Terriers in total contributed at least one point in the victory. Senior goaltender Kerrin Sperry improved to 7-0-1 with a 21-save victory. She has allowed just two goals in her last three starts.
The Black Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead with 2:26 left in the first period. Brianne Kilgour slowed down a cross-zone pass by a Terrier defenseman and then skated hard towards the BU end. Jillian Langtry picked up the puck and backhanded a pass that hit Kilgour in stride. She skated in alone on Sperry and scored her second goal of the season.
The Terriers tied the game just 3:18 into the second stanza. The play began when Warren wrapped around the Maine net and tried to stuff the puck past Meghann Treacy (30 saves). The rebound came out and senior Taylor Holze had an attempt stopped before Elia finally found the back of the net.
Lefort put BU in front with a remarkable redirection just 2:04 after the Terriers tied the score. Elia had the puck along the left half-wall and sent it to freshman Sarah Steele at the top of the zone. She sent a shot towards goal and Lefort got her stick on it to send the puck past Treacy. It was Lefort's seventh strike of the season and her third game-winning goal of the year.
Elia scored the game's only power play goal to give BU a 3-1 advantage.. Lefort continued a BU cycle and got it to senior Kaleigh Fratkin, who skated to the top of the slot and fired a shot that Treacy kicked aside. The rebound bounced off a Maine skate and right to Elia's stick. The freshman forward finished the play for her second goal of the game and third of the season.
Sophomore Jordan Juron extended the lead to 4-1 just 1:36 into the final frame. Second-year skater Dakota Woodworth worked hard to keep the play alive behind the Black Bear cage and poke the puck to classmate Rebecca Russo. She then found Juron between the hash marks, from where she scored for her second goal of the year.
Warren closed the Terriers' account with 3:26 remaining in regulation. Sophomore Lillian Ribeirinha-Braga carried the puck into the Maine zone and slid a pass for Elia. Her shot was stopped, but Warren was in perfect position to deposit the rebound for her team-leading eighth goal of the season.
BU killed off all five power plays it faced and has not allowed a power-play goal in its opponents' last 17 chances. The Terriers will look to keep that streak going on Sunday when they host Maine in the conclusion of the two-game series at Walter Brown Arena. Puck drop is slated for 3 p.m.