It was not the one shot that she let in that was impressive, but it was the other 38 she stopped.
Despite giving up a first period goal, Allyse Wilcox provided a stellar performance as Boston University (12-15-4, 6-11-2 Hockey East) clawed back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat Maine (15-7-6, 7-7-4) in Hockey East play on Saturday afternoon. The loss left Maine tied with Connecticut for the league’s final playoff spot.
“We clearly played our best hockey in the second period and the early half of the third,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “The puck bounced the right way for us and the wrong way for them, but they did everything they could to tie it up but Allyse Wilcox and some fairly competitive defense allowed us to stay ahead.”
Maine led 1-0 at the first intermission but lost the lead before the second. BU’s Gina Kearns scored thanks to a flurry of players that kept Maine goalie Genevieve Turgeon guessing.
The Terriers did not waste time controlling the tempo of the game in the third period. Just over four minutes in, BU screened Turgeon again as Stephanie Armstrong knocked in a loose puck to give the Terriers the 2-1 lead for good.
“Something like that happened to us earlier in the year against Northeastern and Brown,” Durocher said. “It is a part of the ebb and flow of the game.”
For the remainder of the third period, the Terriers defended all Maine attempts at a comeback. The Black Bears’ best opportunity came near the middle of the frame as they forced a 54-second five-on-three power play. During the
two-man disadvantage, Wilcox stopped four shots.
Her biggest save came with less than five minutes in the game on Sonia Corriveau breakaway.
“I think when you lead 1-0 and you are going into the third period tied, it can go either way,” said Maine coach Guy Perron. “We did have our chances and its always hard to tie. No matter if you have been practicing those situations.”
BU had lost 7-0 in its last attempt against Maine.
“Since we are virtually have no shot of making the playoffs, it does give us that role of playing spoiler,” said BU captain Cara Hendry. “We just wanted to get revenge on them after the last time we played them.”
