BC women top Harvard in consolation game
Boston College scored a double-dip with Tuesday night’s 3-1 victory over No. 10 Harvard in the consolation game of the 42nd annual Women’s Beanpot Hockey Tournament played at Walter Brown Arena. The win represented a victory over a top-10 ranked club for the Eagles, who avenged an earlier defeat at the hand of the Crimson.
BC received goals from three different players: freshman defenseman Alexie Guay in the first period, the eventual game-winner off the stick of senior sniper Delaney Belinskas in the middle period, and an insurance lamp-lighter off the stick of precocious freshman left wing Hannah Bilka, a member of the USA Under-22 team, also in the middle frame.
Bolstering the Boston College victory was a sharp 36save effort from sophomore backup Kelly Pickreign, of Harvard, and a clutch performance by senior captain Lindsay Agnew, who shifted back to defense to help the illness/injury-stricken squad. Sophomore center Kelly Browne, of Burlington, chipped in with a pair of assists.
“Great game to win. We’ve been struggling to score goals. I liked our offense (Tuesday night), and Kelly Pickreign made some huge saves,” said BC coach Katie Crowley. “It was a good team win for us. We moved Lindsay (Agnew) back to defense to help us out and I thought our defense did a good job keeping the shots to the outside and allowing Kelly to make the save.”
The consolation bracket featured a rematch of a Dec. 31 game at Bright-Landry Hockey Center, which saw the Crimson pummel a shorthanded Boston College squad to the tune of 7-1.
Revenge-minded BC (1512-3), which was coming off a 3-0 home loss to New Hampshire on Friday, fired 19 shots on net in the opening period and left for intermission in possession of a 1-0 lead.
Harvard fell farther behind in the second period when BC senior alternate captain Belinskas sped down the left side and rifled a shot to beat Harvard senior goalie Beth Larcom (22 saves). U.S. Olympic veteran Cayla Barnes and Agnew picked up the assists.
BC gained breathing room at 11:58 of the second when Bilka redirected a shot past Harvard’s Larcom. It gave the first-year skater Bilka, a graduate of the highly regarded Shattuck-St. Mary’s program, an impressive 13 goals.
“It was just our line working really well. We moved the puck from high to low and I just tipped it out front,” said Bilka. “We focus a lot in practice on tipping pucks. When a team beats us, we kind of get the motivation to come back and try to beat them. I think that when we’re playing our game, I don’t think anyone can beat us.”
Harvard spoiled any shutout hopes harbored by BC goalie Pickreign when ace sophomore center Kristin Della Rovere connected at 11:24 of the third with her team-high 17th goal of the season. Helping out the play with assists were sophomore linemate Anne Bloomer and senior captain Kat Hughes.
“I don’t have a lot to say. Very disappointing. BC had more jump and capitalized on their opportunities. It took us two and a half periods to get our act together,” said Harvard coach Katey Stoen, whose Crimson held a 37-25 edge in shots on net. “I thought we were too fancy at the beginning of the game. We got a couple of opportunities and then left some holes. Just about any shot that we took, the BC goalie (Pickreign) saw. We did not make her night as difficult as we should have.”