The Yale women’s hockey team skated off the ice a year ago after a 4–4 tie against Boston University, satisfied with its performance against a top national team, but looking for an opportunity to prove itself with a more definitive win.
The Elis (1–3–0, 1–1–0 ECAC) got that chance against the same opponent Tuesday night in Boston, and in the process outshot BU (6–4–0, 4–1–0 Hockey East) 34–32 in a game that saw the same number of goals as the 2014 matchup. But in the statistic that ultimately mattered, Yale fell far short, dropping the non-conference contest 7–1 — the Bulldogs’ largest margin of defeat in two years.
“Every period was below average for our team,” forward Eden Murray ’18 said. “There were segments in each period where we showed greatness, but all together it was not good enough to finish with the outcome we wanted.”
Forward Jamie Haddad ’16, coming off a one-game suspension that kept her out of Saturday’s contest, scored the Elis’ only goal, assisted by forward Krista Yip-Chuck ’17 in the second period. The goal brought the score to 2–1, giving the Elis hope midway through the game. But five Terrier goals followed, including three within three minutes of each other in the game’s final period.
The contest could have started differently. Within the first 40 seconds of the first period, the Bulldogs looked as if they had managed to get a shot past BU starting goaltender Erin O’Neil. But video review clarified that forward Phoebe Staenz ’17 kicked the puck through the pipes.
After the ruling was overturned, the Elis still had plenty of time remaining to put goals on the board. They outshot BU 15–9 in the second period and 13–12 in the final frame, but Haddad’s goal was the only result to show for those attempts.
“I didn’t really feel like they had any star players or systems that we weren’t prepared to handle,” Haddad said. “They just took advantage of the opportunities we gave them, which is something we didn’t do.”
Even besides goal tallies, other statistics in the game backed up Haddad’s assertion. The Terriers won 34 faceoffs in the game, just slightly more than Yale’s 27 wins, and the Elis held BU to zero goals on four power-play chances.
The main contributor for BU was junior forward Maddie Elia, who was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team in her debut season. Elia stifled the Yale defense with a hat trick, shooting past both Eli netminders Hanna Mandl ’17 and Rachelle Graham ’16 to lock up the second, fifth and seventh goals for the Terriers.
In the fourth game of her senior season, Graham saw her first minutes on the ice in her collegiate career, coming in for Mandl for the start of the third period. Graham faced 12 shots and saved nine, as three Terrier shots got past her in the game’s final 10 minutes to produce the ultimate 7–1 scoreline.
The seven BU goals came despite an increasing focus on defense throughout the game, according to forward Jordan Chancellor ’19.
“The main points that coach was emphasizing during the game was to focus on the details, especially in our defensive zone,” Chancellor said.
The Elis will look to improve defensively in their next contest, a home game against No. 9 Harvard this Friday at 7 p.m.