CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The No. 8 Boston College women's hockey team came out with a 5-3 win over Merrimack on Friday afternoon at Kelley Rink in the first game of 2021. Willow Corson tied a career-high with three points while five different Eagles scored and 10 total found the box score.
Merrimack was able to grab the first goal of the contest at 8:39 of the opening period, on the power play. Minutes later Deirdre Mullowney got the equalizer for the Eagles tying the score at 1-1 at 12:08 of the first frame. Shots were deadlocked at nine a piece in the first 20 minutes of play and the teams went to the dressing room tied 1-1. The Eagles received a power-play goal from Corson at 5:00 and an even-strength score by Alexie Guay at 16:38 to lead 3-1 through 40 minutes. A pair of even strength goals from Gaby Roy at 4:21 and Savannah Norcross at 13:21 had the Eagles out to a commanding 5-1 advantage with just 6:29 to play in regulation. Merrimack put home a pair of power-play goals with less than five minutes to go but BC held on for the 5-3 victory.
Maddy McArthur finished with 22 saves in net for the Eagles while Emma Gorski stopped 29 shots for the Warriors.
The Eagles went 1-for-2 on the power play while Merrimack went 3-for-5. BC held the 34-25 lead in shot on goal in the game.
No. 8 Boston College 5, Merrimack 3
Friday, Jan. 8, 2021 | 2 p.m.
Kelley Rink | Chestnut Hill, Mass.
SCORING
1st, 8:39 | 1-0, MC GOAL: In the dying moments of a power play for Merrimack, Gabby Jones fired a shot from the right point which was tipped down at the side of the right post by Courtney Maud. Maud found Dominka Laskova at the top of the crease to beat McArthur.
1st, 12:08 | 1-1, BC GOAL: An offensive zone face-off win from Willow Corson in the left circle found the stick of Hannah Bilka at the left half wall, and she hit Deirdre Mullowney at the point. Mullowney then blasted a shot which was redirected off a Merrimack player in front and went past the low blocker of Emma Gorski.
2nd, 5:00 | 2-1, BC GOAL: Bilka let go a wrist shot from the top of the high slot that got blocked. The first rebound effort from Corson was denied by Gorski but the puck came back to Corson at the top of the crease where she pulled the puck to her backhand and slid it by Gorski.
2nd, 16:38 | 3-1, BC GOAL: Deep in the right corner Savannah Norcross fed Kelly Browne behind the net, and Browne sent a no-look behind the back pass to Alexie Guay inside the right circle. Guay sent a shot past the blocker of Gorski inside the far left post.
3rd, 4:21 | 4-1, BC GOAL: Hadley Hartmetz sent a backhand drive on net from the left circle that was saved by the left pad of Gorski but Gaby Roy was on the far side post to bang home the rebound.
3rd, 13:21 | 5-1, BC GOAL: Norcross directed the puck to Maddie Crowley-Cahill at the left point and then drove to the net where she would redirect the shot from Crowley-Cahill through the five hole of Gorski.
3rd, 15:46 | 5-2, MC GOAL: Kiki Roust finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play at the top of the blue paint for the second power-play goal of the day from the Warriors.
3rd, 16:22 | 5-3, MC GOAL: Katie Kaufman took a pass at the right dot and was able to roof it over the right shoulder of McArthur on the power play.
GAME NOTES
- BC now holds a 17-1-0 record in the all-time series with Merrimack ... the Eagles are 10-0-0 against the Warriors at Kelley Rink ... head coach Katie Crowley is 11-1-0.
- Willow Corson tied a career-high with three points (1-2-3) and now has two career goals vs. Merrimack ... all-time, the Eagles are 18-1-1 when the senior records a point and 9-0-0 when she scores a goal.
- Kelly Browne finished the game going 19 for 24 in the face-off circle ... she now has tallied at least 11 face-off wins in seven of nine contests this season.
- Hannah Bilka extended her point streak to three games while recording her 11th career multi-point game with two assists.
- Maddy McArthur made her ninth save of the game at 3:08 of the second frame which gave her 1,500 for her career ... she finished the game with 22 saves for her fourth win of the season and career win number 38.
- With an assist Cayla Barnes now has 51 points (10-41-51) in her career and needs one more point to move into a tie for 10th all-time in career scoring for defenders at BC.
- Maegan Beres, Hadley Hartmetz, Alexie Guay, and Cayla Barnes led the Eagles with four shots on net a piece.
- BC dominated in the faceoff circle winning, 46 of 64 (71.9%) draws.
- The Eagles had five different goal scorers and 10 skaters registered a point.
- BC is now 4-0-0 when scoring a power-play goal this season.
- The Eagles have taken 30+ shots on goal in seven of their nine contests this year with a record of 5-2-0 when doing so.
TEAM RECORDS:
Merrimack : 1-4-0, 1-4-0 HEA
Boston College: 6-3-0, 6-3-0 HEA
UP NEXT
Boston College will finish the home and home vs. Merrimack tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Lawler Rink.
