Broom Sticked (Week 5 Recap)
Halloween weekend was house of horrors for both Terrier teams as they both got swept
The women can’t find a way past NU, and the men lose two goal fests in Orono.
Women’s
Northeastern (1-3 L, 3-7 L)
A tight loss Friday night, turns into a blowout loss on Saturday for the Terriers in their final game at Matthews Arena.
On Friday night, the Terriers took an early lead when Clara Yuhn scored her second of the season at 2:59 in the first. Yuhn has scored in 4 of her last 6 games vs. Northeastern. BU went into intermission up 1-0 despite a 7–16 shot differential. In the second, NU tied things up at 9:31. In the third, the teams nearly skated for OT, but the Huskies took a lead on the power play at 19:32 and an empty netter at 19:49.
Michelle Pasiechnyk kept the Scarlet and White in the game, stopping 37 of 39 Huskies shots. BU excelled at the face off dot, winning 31 of 43 (72.09 %), led by Lilli Welcke who went 18 for 26 (69.23 %).
On Saturday, BU didn’t fair much better. NU opened the game with 4 straight goals, taking a 4-0 lead midway through the second. Sydney Healey broke the shutout at 11:24 in the second. Her 3rd career goal against Northeastern and first in a non-neutral site game. Michelle Pasiechnyk recorded her first point as a Terrier with an assist on the game. The first goalie to record a point for BU since Callie Shanahan vs. Vermont on February 16th, 2024. Three minutes later, at 14:18, Greta Henderson scored her first goal in over a year, with her last coming vs. St. Thomas, as a member of St. Cloud State, on October 26th, 2024. NU extended their lead in the 3rd with 2 more goals. Clara Yuhn took one back at 18:22, her 4th straight game vs. NU with a goal. The Huskies capped things off with an empty netter at 19:38. A night after killing 3 of 4 penalties, The Terriers allowed 4 power play goals in 6 opportunities. BU has scored just 1 power play goal this season, going 0-7 on the power play this weekend.
Saturday’s game was the Terriers’ last at Matthews Arena, the arena in which they played their first game as a varsity program. It was the site of their first Beanpot title as a club team in 1981. Sarah Lefort holds the team record for most goals at the arena with 6. Victoria Bach, the points record with 11. Bach and Lefort are the only Terriers with hat tricks at the arena. Allyse Wilcox recorded the only Terrier shutout at Matthews on February 21st, 2009 (3-0 W). Their final record at the arena as a varsity team is 13-22-4.
Other Notes
Michelle Pasiechnyk is the first Terrier goalie to record a point at Matthews
Men’s
Maine (4-5 L (OT), 5-8 L)
On Friday night, a back and forth shootout with the Black Bears ended in a loss. In the absence of one Cole, another Cole stepped up, with Cole Hutson opening the scoring with his 3rd of the season at 3:15 in the first. Maine becomes the 8th team all three Hutson brothers have scored against. 4 seconds later, Maine tied things up. Later in the period, at 8:28, Ryder Ritchie restored the Terriers lead with a power play goal. Richie’s 6th of 8 game as a Terrier in which he recorded a point.
Midway through the second, Maine tied things up at 7:01. Ben Merrill scored his first as a Terrier, and first goal scored by a Hingham native for the Terriers since Jay O’Brien on March 6th, 2023 vs. Minnesota in the Frozen Four. Two minutes later, Maine, again, tied things up at 16:47.
In the third, Sascha Boumedienne scored his first on the road since February 25th vs. UConn. It was also the first goal in which both Sascha and Sacha (Boisvert) recorded a point. Maine tied things up for the fourth time at 7:00 sending things to OT. In OT, Maine finally had a lead of their own, winning it at 0:43. 11 different Terriers recorded a point in the game, the most this season.
Just 36 seconds into the game Saturday night, Ben Merrill scored his 2nd goal in as many games. Just like the night before, Maine answered right back on the other end 33 seconds later. Unlike the night before, Maine scored twice more in the first to go into the intermission with a 3-1 lead.
In the second, Brandon Svoboda cut into the Black Bears lead at 5:04, his first career goal on the road. Again, Maine answered. Kamil Bednarik scored a short-handed goal at 11:58. Of Bednarik’s 4 career goals, 3 have been short-handed. Again, Maine answered with two more. Conrad Fondrk stemmed with bleeding with a power play goal at 18:50. Fondrk was the 7th different Terrier to score a power play goal this season.
Maine, again, responded, with a short-handed goal of their own early in the third. Two minutes later, Brandon Svoboda scored his second of the game, with a short-handed goal at 3:18. Svoboda’s 3rd multi-goal game in the 6 games in which he scored a goal. The goal was also Svoboda’s personal best 4th point of the game. Svoboda is the 10th Terrier to record 4+ points in a game at Alfond Arena, the latest since Lane Hutson on February 3rd, 2023. Maine scored an empty netter to cap off the 22-goal weekend at 17:17.
Other Notes
Cole Hutson is the First Huston to score in Maine for the Terriers
Ben Merrill is the first Terrier since Logan Cockerill in 2017 to score his first two games as a Terrier at Alfond Arena
Maine is the third opponent in which all three Hutson brothers have recorded 3+ points against, UMass and Vermont the others
Advanced Stats
Game 1
The Terrier’s only solace in their performance, outside goals, was a slight faceoff edge 52% - 48% and winning one more puck battle 71-69.
John McNelis was the Terriers top performer on the night with his second-best performance in terms of Game Score after opening night vs. LIU (2.0318). McNelis is the 7th different Terrier to be the team top performer and the 6th different in the Terriers’ last 6 games.
The Terriers did not record a High Danger shot in the game, the first time in the last two seasons they have not done so, while Maine record 4 (.99 xG)—two which resulted in goals including the game winner.
The Terriers were kept to mostly low danger shots (22 in total) which contributed heavily to their performance.
Only 1 Terrier recorded an xG% over 50, while all but 4 recorded an xG% under 40. On the flip side, every Black Bear with TOI over 5 recorded xG% over 55.
Game 2
The Terriers improved a bit compared to night one in terms of Advanced Stats, but a -9 Scoring Chance differential is devastating.
Brandon Svoboda has his best performance as a Terrier—and was the game’s top performer overall—besting his night in the second Michigan State game (2.6760). He recorded the highest Game Score of any Terrier in a game this season, followed by Cole Hutson who put up the 2nd highest Game Score this season.
High Danger shots were more even on Saturday night, with BU recorded 5 (1.15 xG) compared to Maine’s 7 (1.64 xG). Only 2 of Maine’s goals came on high danger shots, with Max Lacroix saving 4 HD shots (.95 xG). Brandon Svoboda record 3 of the Terriers 5 HD shots (.7 xG) including his 2nd period goal. Bednark’s SHG was also a HD shot (.25 xG).
As opposed the last night, the xG differential was tight for half the game, the Terriers limited Maine to just 1 high danger shot in the first 30 minutes of the game. It wasn’t until the second half of the game that things start to diverge.
For the second night in a row, the vast majority of Terriers record and xG% under 50, with Ben Merrill and Brandon Svoboda the only ones above 50.