Oct. 1, 2009
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Coach Durocher Video Preview
BOSTON – The Boston University women’s ice hockey team opens its season Friday night, welcoming the Ohio State Buckeyes to Walter Brown arena for a two-game series. Friday’s game will mark the third-ever meeting between the two teams and is also the regular season opener for Ohio State.
While the series history is brief, the Terriers have played well against the Buckeyes, holding a 1-0-1 record against the squad. Last season, BU traveled to Columbus for two games at the OSU Ice Rink, taking the first game, 5-3, and skating to a 2-2 tie in the second. Jillian Kirchner tallied three points in the opening stanza of the first game, assisting on two goals and netting one of her own. Jenelle Kohanchuk and Melissa Anderson also got on the score sheet in the first period as the Terriers took a 4-1 lead into the first intermission. Lauren Cherewyk capped the BU scoring off in the second period and then-senior goalie Allyse Wilcox stopped 28 shots to secure the 5-3 win. In game two, after a then-senior Erin Seman goal in the second period, Holly Lorms found the back of the net with 1:31 left in regulation to knot the score at 2-2. Goalie Melissa Haber was true down the stretch, saving 27 shots to preserve the tie.
The Terriers received a confidence boost last weekend thanks to a 7-1 win over the Durham Jr. Lightning in a preseason exhibition matchup. Six different BU players scored goals, led by Cherewyk who netted the final two goals of the contest. Kirchner, Lorms and Jonnie Bloemers all had a goal and an assist in the game and Anderson and freshman Jill Cardella recorded two assists apiece in the win.
Kohanchuk, 2008-09’s top scorer for the Terriers, looks to extend her seven-game point streak from last season into 2009-10 against the Buckeyes. The streak began on January 18 where she had a goal in a 5-1 win over Maine and continued through the conference semifinals, where she logged a goal and an assist in a 3-2 loss to Boston College. Kohanchuk has amassed 12 points during the stretch, netting seven goals and five assists.
Ohio State has an exhibition win of its own this season, getting past Wilfrid Laurier University 1-1 (1-0) in a shootout. Talented sophomore Natalie Spooner teamed with senior Rachel Davis to feed junior defenseman Shannon Reilly on the game-tying goal in the third period and Spooner put the game away with a goal in the second round of the shootout. Junior goaltender Deidre Facklis turned away all three shots from Wilfrid Laurier in the shootout.
Spooner enters the 2009-10 season as Ohio State’s top scoring threat after netting a team-high 21 goals, taking home co- Team Most Valuable Offensive Player honors and receiving a team-record four WCHA Rookie of the Week honors as a freshman. Spooner is a graduate of the Durham Jr. Lightning program, and played with BU sophomore defenseman Tara Watchorn on the Lightning squad. Classmate Laura McIntosh is Ohio State’s top scorer from last season, amassing 39 points on 11 goals and 28 assists. Junior Shannon Riley anchored the Buckeye blueline as last season’s top-scoring defenseman (5-14--19) and senior captain Raelyn LaRocque (5-9--14 in 2008-09) bolsters the front line after a solid junior campaign.
Following the two-game homestand against the Buckeyes, the Terriers will face Robert Morris at Walter Brown next Friday, Oct. 9 before embarking on a five-game non-conference road stretch.
