By Amanda Devaney, News Correspondent
Despite a record-setting tournament performance from junior goaltender Florence Schelling, the women’s hockey team couldn’t cash in on its first ever trip to the the Hockey East Championship last weekend and lost 3-1 to No. 7 Boston College at Walter Brown Arena.
The Huskies finish the season 16-13-8, and 6-10-5 in Hockey East play.
“We weren’t as crisp today,” head coach Dave Flint said. “I thought the first half of the game we were okay, but we just started slapping the puck around a little bit. Some kids were panicking a little bit. There was definitely some miscommunication.”
Sophomore forward Casey Pickett scored the first goal of the game eight minutes into the first period, but BC responded with two unanswered goals in the same period by forwards Danielle Welch and Blake Bolden.
After a scoreless second period, BC added some insurance in the third period when freshman forward Taylor Wasylk scored six minutes in to seal the win.
Schelling saved 32 shots in the loss, following a tournament record 44 saves in the Huskies’ 4-2 upset over No. 1 Boston University.
Her overall performance throughout the season earned Schelling, as well as Pickett and senior co-captain Julia Marty spots on the All-Tournament team.
“We’ve known this whole season and since Florence has gotten to this school, that she is one of the top goalies in the world,” senior forward Alyssa Wohlfeiler said. “It really keeps our spirits high.”
In the game against BU, Schelling stopped 24 shots in just the first period, one short of passing teammate Leah Sulyma’s school record set last season.
“For me, those are the games I love because it keeps me in the game,” Schelling said. “There is no minute when I am just standing around, thinking about something else. I was happy to keep the team in the game with a couple key saves.”
Despite Schelling’s excellent goaltending, BU scored the first goal with four minutes to play in the first period.
However, the Huskies came back strong in the second period, with Pickett’s goal, keeping the score even, and Marty’s fifth goal of the season gave Northeastern a 2-1 lead – the first time the Huskies led BU all season.
Jen Wakefield kept BU alive with a goal with two minutes to play in the second period to tie the score 2-2, but the Huskies regained control 1:13 into the final frame when freshman forward Claire Santostefano picked up a pass from freshman forward Katie MacSorley and launched it past BU goaltender Kerrin Sperry.
Wohlfeiler added a point 10 minutes later to seal the win.
“My backhand has been working pretty well for me in practice, so I just tried to roof it and luckily it went in,” Wohlfeiler said.
The loss sends the Huskies’ and their six seniors packing for the season.
The team will lose forwards Lori Antflick, Kristi Kehoe, Autumn Prouty and Wohlfeiler, who combined for 21 of the team’s 91 goals this season.
Marty, a defenseman, had five goals and nine assists on the season. The sixth senior is Sulyma, who went 3-4-2 in nine starts this season between the pipes.
“I think the big thing is that we realize we can get [to the championship],” Flint said. “This team has the ability to get to the finals. That was a big step for us. I told them to learn from the experience. I thank the seniors for all that they’ve done. I told them to remember how this feels. Remember how exciting this was to get to the championship game, but how it felt to lose, so that next time they are in this situation, they are more prepared.”
