Big Red Hot Apple (Week 9 Preview)
The men head to the Big Apple to face Red Hot rival Cornell, while the women have a game vs. Holy Cross
The men (6-7-1, HEA (6th): 4-4-0) face Cornell at Madison Square Garden, while the women (3-10-1, HEA (6th): 3-5-1) head to Worcester to face Holy Cross.
Men’s
The 10th Edition of Red Hot Hockey is on tap Saturday Night (November 29th, 8pm) at Madison Square Garden in NYC as the Terriers face the Big Red.
Cornell
(6-2-0, ECAC (1st): 5-1-0)
The Boston University Terriers and the Cornell Big Red renew their rivalry in the 10th edition of Red Hot Hockey. The biennial post-Thanksgiving face off has seen NYC lit up Scarlet in 4 of the first 5 editions—2009 ended in a tie and in 2015 BU won a shootout to retain the Kelley-Harkness Cup—while the City That Never Sleeps has turned Carnelian for the last five games.
The Terriers enter after splitting with Northeastern (2-3, 4-3 (ot)). In both games BU let up late goals to lose them a point, on Friday a goal at 18:53 turned a potential OT to a regulation loss and on Saturday an extra attacker goal at 18:59 sent a potential regulation win into overtime, where Cole Hutson salvaged a point for the Terriers.
The Big Red enter on a four game winning streak, including 2-1 and 6-1 wins against Union and RPI, respectively, on the weekend. On Saturday, Cornell leading scorer, junior Ryan Walsh recorded a personal best 5 points (all assists), which accounts for exactly half of his team leading 10 points. Sophomore Charlie Major is 2nd in points with 7, record a goal and 2 assist against RPI. Junior Jonathan Castagna and freshman Gio DiGiulian lead the team with 4 goals each. In net, freshman Alexis Cournoyer has started all but 1 game for the Big Red, posting a 1.30 GAA and .953 SV%, good enough for second among ECAC goalies.
BU and Cornell are facing off for the 5th straight season, the longest streak since the Terriers left the ECAC in 1984. Last time out against the Big Red, Quinn Hutson punched the Terriers 3rd straight trip to the Frozen Four with an overtime game winning goal in the Toledo Regional Final. Mikhail Yegorov recorded 37 saves on 39 shots in the effort.
Records
23-27-3 vs. Cornell (3-1-0 under Jay Pandolfo)
5-4-2 at MSG (0-1-0)
3-4-2 vs. Cornell at MSG (0-1-0)
10-5-1 on November 29th (1-0-0)
Other Notes
BU is 3-2 in the last 5 seasons vs. Cornell, with the 2 losses at MSG and the 3 wins coming away from MSG
It will be the 5th Red Hot Hockey in which both BU and Cornell are ranked, and it will be the 9th consecutive time that Cornell is ranked going into the game
Gavin McCarthy—who record an assist as a Freshman in 2023—and Aiden Celebrini are the only active Terriers to play at Madison Square Garden, Cole Hutson is the only active Terrier with a BU goal against Cornell—2025 Toledo Regional Final.
Sacha Boisvert a goal and two assists against Cornell while playing for North Dakota last season
Women’s
The Terrier host Turnpike Trophy rival Holy Cross for a single game on Tuesday at Walter Brown Arena (December 2nd, 7 pm).
Holy Cross
(11-5-1, HEA (3rd): 4-4-1)
For the first time all season, the Terriers enter a week unbeaten in back to back games after a 5 point weekend against Providence. Kaileigh Quigg had a 3 point weekend, the first of her career. Clara Yuhn and Sydney Healey continue pacing the Terriers scoring, with each scoring a goal on the weekend. 6 different Terriers scored in the series.
Holy Cross is off to their best starts in their Hockey East Era, surpassing last year’s win total, which set a program best 10 wins since 2018-19 when the Crusaders joined the conference. The Crusaders are unbeaten in their last 3 (2-0-1) and have won 4 of their last 6. Freshman Violet Carroll leads the team in goals (6), assists (11), and points (17)—which is the 3rd most among Hockey East players. Behind Carroll are 3 others tied with 5 goals each, Naemi Herzig (FR, F), Alexia Moreau (SR, F), and Lulu Rourke (FR, F). In net, senior Abby Hornung has gotten the bulk of the load, holds a 1.51 GAA and .941 SV% including a shutout of Dartmouth on October 18th.
Three different Terriers have 4+ points against Holy Cross: Sydney Healey (0-5—5), Luisa Welcke (1-3—4), Clara Yuhn (3-1—4).
Record
13-6-0 vs. Holy Cross (4-3-0 under Tara Watchorn)
7-2-0 vs. Holy Cross at Home (2-2-0)
12-7-4 at Home on Tuesdays (1-0-0)
Other Notes
Last time out, Mari Pietersen, shutout Holy Cross in back to back starts (January 24th/25th) becoming the first BU goalie to do so since Andrea Brändli shutout RPI and UNH in back to back starts on October 7th and 14th, 2022.
Holy Cross is the only team Sydney Healey has more than 2 points against and 0 goals
