Terriers Top No. 8 Quinnipiac in Shootout to Advance to Friendship Series Final

Friday, January 2

Belfast, Northern Ireland

2 PM ET/7 PM GMT

Boston University

4-11-3

Quinnipiac

14-5-2

OT 1

OT 2

Quinnipiac

Boston U.

Photo by: Eliza Nuestro

Terriers Top No. 8 Quinnipiac in Shootout to Advance to Friendship Series Final

January 2, 2026 | Women's Ice Hockey

Box Score

BELFAST, Northern Ireland - The Boston University women's ice hockey team erased a 2-0 deficit against No. 8 Quinnipiac to force overtime before getting a shootout winner from senior Lilli Welcke to claim a spot in the Friendship Series final on Friday evening at SSE Arena.

The Bobcats took a 2-0 lead early in the second period before senior Sydney Healey found the back of the net twice - once later in the second and again with 8:23 left in regulation - to make it a 2-2 contest.

Neither team scored in overtime, although BU had to kill off a penalty in the extra session, and the game would go down as a 2-2 tie with a shootout needed to determine the advancing team.

Junior Mari Pietersen turned aside all three of Quinnipiac's bids in the shootout as Welcke was the only shooter to score, converting her chance in the second round to help the Terriers secure a showdown with Harvard in tomorrow's title game. The Crimson earned a 3-2 overtime win against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth in the first semifinal.

Pietersen made 36 saves, stopping the final 22 shots she faced. Senior Clara Yuhn assisted on both of Healey's goals while sophomores Kaileigh Quigg and Tessa Demain earned one assist apiece.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Quinnipiac was called for too many skaters on the ice at 2:10 in the first.
BU did not score during the power play advantage.
The Bobcats took a 1-0 lead 10:48 into the first.
With 37 seconds left in the frame, the Terriers were called for hooking and successfully killed the penalty early in the second.
Quinnipiac extended its lead with its second goal of the night at 3:39.
The Terriers went on the power play at the 8:07 mark due to a Quinnipiac body checking call, and the Bobcats held off the Terriers from scoring.
At the 11:48 mark, Yuhn passed to Quigg whose initial shot was saved.
S. Healey then collected the rebound to lift the puck into the net, cutting into the Quinnipiac lead, 2-1.
BU went to the box for hooking with 14:03 to play in the third and was once again successful on the penalty kill.
Quinnipiac was called for hooking at the 8:26 mark and was also successful on the penalty kill.
BU gained possession of the puck in its own end as Yuhn tapped the puck to Demain.
Demain then took it up the neutral zone and passed to S. Healey at the blue line, whose shot from the left point went in at the far post to tie the game, 2-2, with 9:23 to play in the third.
The score remained unchanged through the final minutes and went into overtime.
With 3:09 left in overtime, BU was called for holding, giving the Bobcats a 4-on-3 advantage for two minutes.
The Terriers successfully killed the penalty as play transitioned to 4-on-4.
Neither team scored during the remainder of overtime as the game headed to a shootout.
Both teams missed in the first round of the shootout.
In the second round, the Bobcats missed but Li. Welcke found the back of the net.
Quinnipiac missed in the third round as BU secured the 1-0 shootout win in the 2-2 tie.

GAME NOTES

Quinnipiac outshot BU 41 to 23.
Both teams were 0-for-3 on the power play.
BU won 30 faceoffs compared to Quinnipiac's 20.
BU blocked 10 shots with senior Maeve Kelly and sophomores Kate Meinert and Keira Healey each blocking two.
S. Healey, Quigg and Yuhn were all plus-2 in the game.
Harvard and BU are the two geographically closest Division I women's hockey teams in the NCAA.