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The Boston University women's ice hockey team will conclude its regular-season series with Merrimack on Saturday night in North Andover, Massachusetts. The Terriers and Warriors will drop the puck at 7 p.m.
BU (13-8-5, 8-7-4 WHEA) swept a home-and-home series with Merrimack (8-17-3, 4-14-0 WHEA) in November, including a 7-3 victory at Lawler Rink. The Terriers then shut out the Warriors, 2-0, at Agganis Arena, to improve to 5-0-0 all-time against the second-year program. Junior Victoria Bach and senior Samantha Sutherland have each recorded at least one point in all five games against Merrimack over the last two seasons, with Bach accumulating five goals and five assists for 10 points. Junior Rebecca Leslie notched a hat trick in the 7-3 win on Nov. 18 and has five points (3g, 2a) while senior co-captain Alexis Crossley (1g, 3a) and senior Maddie Elia (4a) have also enjoyed success against Merrimack. Senior goaltender Victoria Hanson is 3-0-0 against the Warriors with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .968 save percentage.
The Terriers are looking for their second win of 2017 after beginning the year 1-1-4, with the lone victory coming this past Sunday against Providence. With just five league games remaining, two points are vital for BU in the race for home-ice advantage in the Hockey East quarterfinals. The Terriers will host the semifinals and championship game, so BU can potentially finish its road schedule, until the NCAA Tournament, on Feb. 11 if it finishes in one of the top four spots of the league standings. Currently, the Terriers are three points clear of fifth-place Vermont, though the Catamounts have three games in hand.
Offensively, the Terriers have clicked over the last two games, scoring five in each contest against Providence. Bach enters the weekend having recorded six points (3g, 3a) against the Friars to jump into the league lead with 35 points on 16 goals and 19 assists. Leslie returned to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 10 and turned in a four-point weekend (3g, 1a) to reach the 100-point plateau at BU. Playing on the same line for the first time this season, Bach and Leslie combined for 18 shots on goal against Providence and both led the team in plus-minus (+3) over the weekend.
Merrimack is winless in its last four games, though all four games were against ranked opponents, including three against Boston College. The Warriors were edged by the Eagles, 1-0, on Jan. 13 and most recently dropped a 4-1 home decision to No. 7 BC on Wednesday, though Merrimack did tie No. 10 Quinnipiac, 2-2, on Jan. 20.
Sophomore Paige Voight and freshman Mikyla Grant-Mentis both lead the Warriors with 20 points; Voight is the team's top goal scorer (13) and Grant-Mentis leads the team with 15 assists. Freshman Lea-Kristine Demers and sophomore Samantha Ridgewell have split the goaltending duties for much of the year. Demers is 5-11-1 with a .903 save percentage and a 3.07 GAA while Ridgewell owns a .904 save percentage and 3.34 GAA.
Following Saturday's showdown, BU will turn its attention to the 39th annual Women's Beanpot, hosted at Northeastern on Jan. 31 and Feb. 7. The Terriers will face Boston College this Tuesday in the opening round (5 p.m.). After that game, BU won't play again until the second Tuesday of the Beanpot on Feb. 7.
