Three Boston women's teams set for Hockey East semifinals, with defending champ UConn the lone outsider
It will be the first meeting of the Terriers and Eagles in the semifinals since 2019, when BC handed BU a 5-1 loss before losing the championship game to Northeastern. The Eagles (tied with UConn for 12th
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That semifinal experience is showing in the grit of BC's sophomore class. Three of the team's top four scorers are sophomores, led by Tewksbury's Sammy Taber. Taber has 11 goals and 25 assists to follow up on her 31-point Rookie of the Year season in 2023-24, including a helper in the Eagles' 4-3 win over Maine in Saturday's quarterfinals.
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Sophomore Sammy Taber leads the Eagles in scoring this season.
Courtesy/Boston College Athletics
Classmate Julia Pellerin has stood out as BC's top sniper. The Windham, N.H. native leads the Eagles in goals with 20 (which was the game-winner against Maine), and in shots with 172, 68 more than her next teammate. Another sophomore, defender Molly Jordan, has shown herself to be a top-notch two-way player, with 23 points on the season.
Besides the emergence of a strong sophomore class, the Eagles are surging as a more cohesive unit than their last two years.
'It's a pretty tight-knit group,' said coach Katie Crowley earlier in the season. 'I think what we found is they really play for each other and that's awesome to see. That helps in the closer games.'
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Improved teamwork has also been a boost for the Terriers, who have been the surprise of Hockey East so far. Picked sixth in the coaches' preseason poll, BU went into the final weekend in the running for the regular-season title, before dropping a series to UConn. But second-year coach Tara Watchorn and her charges bounced right back by besting Vermont, 4-3 in overtime, in Saturday's quarterfinal.
'There was so much room for upgrades,' said Watchorn after the win. 'Our foundation was back and strong in a lot of ways and reinvigorated. We felt good coming out of last weekend, with a little bit more of a fire, which never hurts.'
Coach Tara Watchorn had the Terriers vying for the Hockey East regular season title right up to the final weekend. Now, BU is looking for Hockey East tournament glory.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Six Terriers have over 15 points this season, an improvement over the last few years when scoring was a struggle. Leading the way is junior Sydney Healey, who is having the best season of her career with 14 goals and 8 assists.
Regardless of position, BU's players aren't shying away from scoring opportunities. Hockey East Defender of the Year Tamara Giaquinto (8-9–17) has been playing much like her coach did during her own BU career, a physical presence on the blue line who doesn't fear getting in front of a shot.
The Terriers took the regular season series against the Eagles, 2-1, but Wednesday's semifinal is an even matchup. The early 2010s days of BC and BU vying for league titles and being a part of the national conversation have returned, and both teams welcome it.
'It just makes it more fun,' said Crowley.
It's deja vu for Northeastern (tied for 14th in PairWise), who has played UConn in the postseason five times in the last six seasons. The Huskies have been inconsistent, but still find a way to play up in important games, such as their
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Northeastern captain Taze Thompson hopes to add another Hockey East championship trophy to their already packed case this week, after skating away with the Beanpot back in January.
Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
When Northeastern's forwards are on, like Andover's Lily Shannon (14-8–22) and Kingston's Skylar Irving (15-16–31), they are hard to stop. But UConn goalie Tia Chan is Hockey East's best, and fourth in the nation with a .944 save percentage. Chan was the reason
Kat Cornetta can be reached at
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