They say the third time’s the charm, and that proved true for Mari Pietersen against Holy Cross.
In last season’s Holy Cross series — and the last time the Boston University women’s hockey team recorded a shutout — Mari Pietersen spearheaded back-to-back wins with two consecutive shutouts, reminding everyone of her presence.
In this year’s matchup against Holy Cross, the narrative remained the same, with her anchoring BU’s 3-0 shutout effort, extending the Terriers’ record to 4-10-1 and 4-5-1 in Hockey East.
“It was just one of the most complete games I’ve seen her play,” head coach Tara Watchorn said. “Yeah, there’s the shut out, but how she made the saves that she did, the way that she did was so calm.”
With a team that has had questions about the reliability of their defensive core, having a goalie that is able to ground the team on the back end is key to finding consistency. That is what Pietersen has done in the past three matchups.
The Terriers established that they have what it takes to be a competitive team in Hockey East after back-to-back losses against Boston College, where they showed they were committed to the process but just couldn’t find the result.
Following the BC series, Pietersen started in net against Providence and helped lead BU to a win and a tie — including a shootout victory, where she made two saves. Now, in her third consecutive start, she has emerged as a key piece of BU’s success puzzle.
“Holy Cross is tough because you can have momentum then they scramble, and they get a few chances on you, and all the sudden the game could feel a lot different,” Watchorn said. “Not only did she make the saves, she did it in a way that gave us confidence.”
Increased confidence was palpable across all 200 feet of the ice; aside from the net, the Terriers’ game on transition excelled.
BU’s first goal came off a breakout from the neutral zone. Senior forward Lilli Welcke broke out and connected across the ice to her sister, Luisa, who sniped the puck from the circle into the top shelf above goaltender Abby Hornung at 8:47 in the first.
The Welcke sisters, alongside fellow senior forward Riley Walsh, consistently generated quality chances through the night. Their chemistry has grown steadily this season as they’ve remained together on the same line.
“We’re talking a lot about how do we take the skill sets that we have individually — and then as your line too — and then the identity you have, and turn that into offense,” Watchorn said. “I think they’ve been curious about how to upgrade some of those looks, and make them more threatening and they’ve definitely been heating up.”
Luisa Welcke was responsible for BU’s second goal of the night. As the Crusaders attempted to break the puck out of their defensive zone, connecting down the ice, Luisa made an interception. Passing to senior forward assistant captain Sydney Healey, Healey backhanded a pass back to Luisa, who dragged the puck across the crease to Hornung’s gloveside, slipping the puck tightly past the goalpost.
As for special teams, neither Holy Cross nor BU generated on the night. Watchorn credited BU’s struggle on the power play to timing.
“It was not an opportunistic time,” Watchorn said of BU’s lone powerplay. “I wish we would have built a bit more momentum on it, but getting one look at that time in the game was a little bit tough too.”
On the penalty kill, BU successfully shut down all three opportunities against them. In their past three games, it have yet to allow a goal on the kill.
Freshman forward Mia Vergilii capped off the scoring for BU. Senior forward assistant captain Clara Yuhn broke the puck out of the neutral zone, bringing it past the goal line, then found Vergilii wide open skating through the circle. Vergilii buried the feed from the slot to seal the goal.
Vergilii has been inconsistent for the Terriers, accumulating low minutes on the ice and often causing turnovers, but tonight she played with confidence.
“It was a great play and a fun way to score your first one, but what I loved even more was that she had a great game,” Watchorn said of Vergilii. “Everytime we put her on the ice she helped us, and gave us momentum, and created chances, and we just kept putting her out there.”
BU faces one of its toughest tests this weekend against UConn — the lone team they couldn’t solve last season. To break through this time, the Terriers will need to match, if not surpass, the poise they displayed tonight.
“It’s taking what we learned through this game, elevating it, and making it even better and even more disciplined,” Watchorn said. “It was a great game and more detail than we have seen, but there’s a lot of things we can still do to make our game goalie proof and opponent proof.”