Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
It's A New Dawn And New Day For BC Women's Hockey
March 14, 2021 | Women's Hockey, #ForBoston Files
Eagles head to NCAA Tournament this week with a new, fresh outlook.
When Boston College hit the ice in November, the NCAA tournament felt centuries away. The Eagles were just happy to skate together for the first time since COVID-19 threatened the 2020-2021 season altogether, and they couldn't place the national championship anywhere on their radar. Eliminated last year before the global pandemic canceled the remainder of the postseason, the team had plenty else to work on, and the players were happy to enjoy the small group work geared towards conditioning and fundamentals.
Four months later, the perspective is a little different. BC is still the team happy with the opportunity to simply skate and play hockey, but the NCAA Tournament is no longer light years away. It's here, and the Eagles' new perspective carried them through a regular season and straight into a postseason berth. On Tuesday, the puck will drop against Ohio State, and a new culture will try to end the year-long quest for hockey in a way it's never been celebrated before.
"When we started this year, we were on the ice with five to eight players or whatever the number was at the time," head coach Katie Crowley said. "We were so limited in what we could do and how we could do it, but to think back on those weeks, the regular season has ended and we're looking towards an NCAA championship. That's exciting. We worked extremely hard at the beginning and rolled with the punches. We stayed together as a team and endured a few bumps that we would like to have back. But I'm really happy with the way the season went, and we were given a new life with that bid to the NCAAs."
Reaching this point this year technically started with a 6-2 win over New Hampshire, but the NCAA berth's true genesis started last March when UConn bounced BC from the Hockey East postseason. The Eagles had been 9-0-1 at one point during that season before a six-game losing streak clouded much of December and January, and they ended the season by dropping four of six and five of eight games down the February stretch.
Their final record failed to reach 20 wins, and they lost the most games since the 2009-2010 season. The postseason, long the bastion of rebooted optimism for any team, saw BC bow out in the Hockey East quarterfinals to UConn after winning the first game. Particularly painful was the way it happened, with two third period goals rallying the Huskies in the decisive third game to eliminate the Eagles from any national contention. It snapped a streak of nine consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, though the field was canceled prior to the first round when COVID-19 hit in earnest two weeks later.
Any pall or shadow, though, didn't last very long because the pandemic crystallized the feelings around the game. The players didn't think much about how last season ended or what happened to their near-perfect start from a year ago. They simply sought to get back on the ice with one another and play a season that could update and reboot their culture the way they saw fit.
That fabric rediscovered their love of the game and was on full display by mid-December. A sweep over UNH preceded a sweep loss to Providence and two wins over UConn, but the last series of the first semester against Northeastern galvanized BC into its current form. The Eagles lost the first game at home, 4-1, before defeating the Huskies on the road, 2-1. It became Northeastern's only loss of the season and required a maturation on the ice after the Eagles surrendered a 1-0, first period lead halfway through the third.
"We beat them on the road in our last game before winter break," senior captain Maegan Beres said. "That was great because we had the few weeks off that everyone needed to refresh and reset, and it fueled our fire going right into the start of January. It was the point where we said that the season had been so different, that games had been canceled, and that we're going to play different teams than what we were scheduled. It made each game huge, and with each game, we understood how it would move us up in the rankings. That's exactly what we saw and what put us in position to play Ohio State. We stepped out on the ice with a swagger that we could give it all each and every game."
"Our team was super fortunate and grateful to play as many games as we did this season," junior captain Kelly Browne said. "We played close to 20 regular season games, which was awesome, and we played some of the most games within our league. Our team went through adversity, every week, facing the unknowns. It became a week-to-week, day-by-day mentality just because we were hoping to play the next game."
It converted BC into a steamroller that didn't lose a game in January. It won nine straight dating back to that Northeastern game and went a perfect 8-0 in that first month of the calendar year. The constant schedule shifts produced three straight games against UConn at one point, but each game progressively improved against a sneaky-good squad.
The ride ended with a split against Boston University and a Hockey East quarterfinal loss in a sixth game against Connecticut, but it didn't damage the team's reputation prior to the NCAA selection show. The selection committee awarded BC the No. 6 seed and a matchup against No. 3 Ohio State in the neutral site tournament held in Erie, Pa.
"It had been a while since we beat Northeastern," Crowley said, "and they're a great team that has been great for a couple of years. Those two games were huge for us, especially coming off the tough losses against Providence, and we were really up for it. That win gave us confidence after last year and was helpful for our players to keep pushing forward. We hit a few contact tracing issues with COVID, but everybody stepped up when their name was called. We won games with whichever line needed to skate together. We played three of our four goalies. It helped build our depth with situations that wouldn't happen in a normal year, and I was just really proud of how they handled the regular season."
It has BC primed and positioned to change its perception as the tournament dawns on Tuesday. The NCAA moved its national tournament to Erie in order to create a single-site bubble atmosphere over the course of a week, but it negated any home ice advantage for the higher seed. There will be fans, but the Buckeyes, who played in front of crowds by the end of the season, posted a record with two less wins than the Eagles. Both Ohio State's goals against average and average goals per game were lower than BC's numbers on the whole season.
Outside the numbers, the Eagles are simply grateful. The players understand how suiting up for BC carries expectations of greatness, and they acknowledge the past is a big part of the team's blue blood fabric. They also recognize how different they are from the past and how interconnected this team is. They watched last year end in bitter defeat, but this year is a brand new season with a whole different perspective. It's still "Trophy Season," but it's also just another chance to play hockey.
"I had no idea we would play even one game," Beres said. "I remember talking to the coaches about halfway through the season, and I would just get emotional. Stoked is really the only way I can put it because we were able to put together pretty much an entire season. I couldn't have asked for a better senior year, and that sounds a little strange because it's been such a crazy year. But I couldn't be more happy with the group that we have. We put our head down and went to work. Every game meant something big for us. So we're going to take this the whole way and hopefully walk away with the trophy, but I couldn't be more proud of this group of girls and how we've handled every obstacle, every game."
"We've been able to set an example for all of the younger girls and show them what it's like to play for BC," Browne said. "There's a competitive nature to practice every day, and the positive attitude is because we've had a completely different outlook on the season. We are just truly so excited to play, and I think we carried everything into year in a way that really helped us."
"Having eight teams in one place to battle it out to get to that Frozen Four is interesting," Crowley said. "It's going to be a really exciting tournament. I think having all those teams in one place makes it a unique opportunity for us. Who knows if we'll ever get this situation again where we can do something like this, and that makes it all the more exciting. You want to showcase the top eight in this situation, and that's what's going to make it a fun tournament."
Sixth-seeded BC will play No. 3 Ohio State on Tuesday, March 16 at 7 p.m. with coverage of the game available for streaming through the NCAA's website.
Four months later, the perspective is a little different. BC is still the team happy with the opportunity to simply skate and play hockey, but the NCAA Tournament is no longer light years away. It's here, and the Eagles' new perspective carried them through a regular season and straight into a postseason berth. On Tuesday, the puck will drop against Ohio State, and a new culture will try to end the year-long quest for hockey in a way it's never been celebrated before.
"When we started this year, we were on the ice with five to eight players or whatever the number was at the time," head coach Katie Crowley said. "We were so limited in what we could do and how we could do it, but to think back on those weeks, the regular season has ended and we're looking towards an NCAA championship. That's exciting. We worked extremely hard at the beginning and rolled with the punches. We stayed together as a team and endured a few bumps that we would like to have back. But I'm really happy with the way the season went, and we were given a new life with that bid to the NCAAs."
Reaching this point this year technically started with a 6-2 win over New Hampshire, but the NCAA berth's true genesis started last March when UConn bounced BC from the Hockey East postseason. The Eagles had been 9-0-1 at one point during that season before a six-game losing streak clouded much of December and January, and they ended the season by dropping four of six and five of eight games down the February stretch.
Their final record failed to reach 20 wins, and they lost the most games since the 2009-2010 season. The postseason, long the bastion of rebooted optimism for any team, saw BC bow out in the Hockey East quarterfinals to UConn after winning the first game. Particularly painful was the way it happened, with two third period goals rallying the Huskies in the decisive third game to eliminate the Eagles from any national contention. It snapped a streak of nine consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, though the field was canceled prior to the first round when COVID-19 hit in earnest two weeks later.
Any pall or shadow, though, didn't last very long because the pandemic crystallized the feelings around the game. The players didn't think much about how last season ended or what happened to their near-perfect start from a year ago. They simply sought to get back on the ice with one another and play a season that could update and reboot their culture the way they saw fit.
That fabric rediscovered their love of the game and was on full display by mid-December. A sweep over UNH preceded a sweep loss to Providence and two wins over UConn, but the last series of the first semester against Northeastern galvanized BC into its current form. The Eagles lost the first game at home, 4-1, before defeating the Huskies on the road, 2-1. It became Northeastern's only loss of the season and required a maturation on the ice after the Eagles surrendered a 1-0, first period lead halfway through the third.
"We beat them on the road in our last game before winter break," senior captain Maegan Beres said. "That was great because we had the few weeks off that everyone needed to refresh and reset, and it fueled our fire going right into the start of January. It was the point where we said that the season had been so different, that games had been canceled, and that we're going to play different teams than what we were scheduled. It made each game huge, and with each game, we understood how it would move us up in the rankings. That's exactly what we saw and what put us in position to play Ohio State. We stepped out on the ice with a swagger that we could give it all each and every game."
"Our team was super fortunate and grateful to play as many games as we did this season," junior captain Kelly Browne said. "We played close to 20 regular season games, which was awesome, and we played some of the most games within our league. Our team went through adversity, every week, facing the unknowns. It became a week-to-week, day-by-day mentality just because we were hoping to play the next game."
It converted BC into a steamroller that didn't lose a game in January. It won nine straight dating back to that Northeastern game and went a perfect 8-0 in that first month of the calendar year. The constant schedule shifts produced three straight games against UConn at one point, but each game progressively improved against a sneaky-good squad.
The ride ended with a split against Boston University and a Hockey East quarterfinal loss in a sixth game against Connecticut, but it didn't damage the team's reputation prior to the NCAA selection show. The selection committee awarded BC the No. 6 seed and a matchup against No. 3 Ohio State in the neutral site tournament held in Erie, Pa.
"It had been a while since we beat Northeastern," Crowley said, "and they're a great team that has been great for a couple of years. Those two games were huge for us, especially coming off the tough losses against Providence, and we were really up for it. That win gave us confidence after last year and was helpful for our players to keep pushing forward. We hit a few contact tracing issues with COVID, but everybody stepped up when their name was called. We won games with whichever line needed to skate together. We played three of our four goalies. It helped build our depth with situations that wouldn't happen in a normal year, and I was just really proud of how they handled the regular season."
It has BC primed and positioned to change its perception as the tournament dawns on Tuesday. The NCAA moved its national tournament to Erie in order to create a single-site bubble atmosphere over the course of a week, but it negated any home ice advantage for the higher seed. There will be fans, but the Buckeyes, who played in front of crowds by the end of the season, posted a record with two less wins than the Eagles. Both Ohio State's goals against average and average goals per game were lower than BC's numbers on the whole season.
Outside the numbers, the Eagles are simply grateful. The players understand how suiting up for BC carries expectations of greatness, and they acknowledge the past is a big part of the team's blue blood fabric. They also recognize how different they are from the past and how interconnected this team is. They watched last year end in bitter defeat, but this year is a brand new season with a whole different perspective. It's still "Trophy Season," but it's also just another chance to play hockey.
"I had no idea we would play even one game," Beres said. "I remember talking to the coaches about halfway through the season, and I would just get emotional. Stoked is really the only way I can put it because we were able to put together pretty much an entire season. I couldn't have asked for a better senior year, and that sounds a little strange because it's been such a crazy year. But I couldn't be more happy with the group that we have. We put our head down and went to work. Every game meant something big for us. So we're going to take this the whole way and hopefully walk away with the trophy, but I couldn't be more proud of this group of girls and how we've handled every obstacle, every game."
"We've been able to set an example for all of the younger girls and show them what it's like to play for BC," Browne said. "There's a competitive nature to practice every day, and the positive attitude is because we've had a completely different outlook on the season. We are just truly so excited to play, and I think we carried everything into year in a way that really helped us."
"Having eight teams in one place to battle it out to get to that Frozen Four is interesting," Crowley said. "It's going to be a really exciting tournament. I think having all those teams in one place makes it a unique opportunity for us. Who knows if we'll ever get this situation again where we can do something like this, and that makes it all the more exciting. You want to showcase the top eight in this situation, and that's what's going to make it a fun tournament."
Sixth-seeded BC will play No. 3 Ohio State on Tuesday, March 16 at 7 p.m. with coverage of the game available for streaming through the NCAA's website.
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