The afternoon and the scoreboard were quiet, but the impacts rang loudly in a 0-0 tie Friday afternoon between the Boston College Eagles and the Quinnipiac Bobcats. While both teams are three and six respectively in polls, both teams are still short of the full team expectations.
“I thought we played much better than we have been playing,” Boston College head coach Katie Crowley said. “I was really impressed with how hard we went and that we played BC hockey again, which was nice to see. Obviously it would have been nice to pop one in there, but overall I’m really happy with how our team played.”
Quinnipiac’s Sydney Rossman and Boston College’s Katie Burt held strong after impressive goaltending last year in the NCAA Tournament. Katie Burt locked down during long stretches while her team was down a player, while Rossman handled a few barrages and constant presence and pressure in her crease.
Rossman herself turned away a career high 38 shots for her fifth shutout of the year
“We tend to be a team that doesn’t give up a bunch of shots but when we do I like the team to think I can be there for them,” Rossman said. “It keeps me in the game and it’s a good way to get my team fired up so they can go get the next one.”
Rossman was key with acrobatics, holding between the pipes from start to finishing whistle. With 2:30 left in the game was a scramble, Rossman got a glove on the puck but was not completely frozen. She pulled her glove up for her defenseman to take and skate out from the zone but was picked by the Eagles and sent the hard wrist shot wide.
It was evident both teams were still working to find an identity after graduating so many of their offensive contributions, and filling in key roster spots with underclassmen. While a season or two ago a tie against the Eagles meant excitement it was for a much different reason. These two teams still challenged one another and played a strong level of hockey for a pair of opponents still composing a complete identity.
“It already feels like it’s details and smaller things [being adjusted],” Turner said. “I think the biggest step was getting to the work ethic we wanted and then the next step was the battle that we wanted, and I think we’re right there. Now it’s just more consistent plays with the puck is really our next step.”
Overtime rolled around and on the ice were Baumgardt, Tabin, Samoskevich, Cianfarano and Prater. On both left wing and defense, the future of the team settled in for the face-off at center ice.
“We just keep looking to take steps with our season. We have a lot of people in new roles and big responsibility and today again was again a big step for us,” Turner said. “Even throughout the hockey game, it was a little disjointed with power plays, penalty kills, and some of the plays that we made and how we rebounded from chances against were really good and how we managed a strong hockey team.”
Turner knows how pivotal the next game is in addressing and further developing their respective teams.
“We’re happy with the tie and I think we’re hungry because we want something more tomorrow.”
