Jenn Wakefield and Marie-Philip Poulin each scored two goals to propel No. 4 Boston University to a 6-2 win against North Dakota on Sunday afternoon at Ralph Engelstad Arena, splitting the series with the Sioux.
North Dakota opened the game’s scoring early in the first period with a Kelsey Ketcher goal at 4:33, but the Terriers responded with four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead. After the Fighting Sioux cut the advantage to 4-2 with 5:01 remaining in the third period, BU answered with two empty-net goals to account for the 6-2 final.
Jillian Kirchner and Jenelle Kohanchuk also scored for the Terriers, while freshman Kerrin Sperry turned aside 14 shots in her BU debut.
Wakefield, who also notched two assists, evened the game, 1-1 with her first goal of the contest at 6:11. Tara Watchorn collected the puck near BU’s defensive blue line and sent a pass to Lauren Cherewyk through the neutral zone. Cherewyk skated to the top of the right circle and slid a pass to Wakefield, who was driving hard to the net, and she redirected the pass high to the top corner.
The Terriers took a 2-1 lead with Kohanchuk’s goal at 8:18. While skating down the ice two-on-one with Poulin, Kohanchuk had her pass attempt blocked by a diving North Dakota defenseman. She gathered the loose puck and fired it past North Dakota netminder Jorid Dagfinrud, who was out of position after committing to Kohanchuk’s initial pass.
BU extended its lead to 3-1 with Wakefield’s second goal 1:18 later. Jillian Kirchner maneuvered around the North Dakota defense near the net and sent a cross-crease pass that Wakefield banged into the open net for the short-handed tally.
In the second period, Poulin gave the Terriers a 4-1 advantage with a short-handed goal at 11:28. Wakefield skated into the offensive zone, cut through the circles on her backhand and slid a cross-ice pass to Poulin, who one-timed the puck into the net.
Kohanchuk appeared to give BU a 5-1 lead midway through the third period, but the goal was disallowed following video review. North Dakota then cut the Terriers’ lead to 4-2 on goal from Jocelyne Lamoureux at 14:59.
With 1:58 remaining in the game and the North Dakota goaltender pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Poulin notched her second goal of the game. In BU’s defensive zone, she gathered the puck along the boards and sent it the length of the ice for the short-handed empty-netter.
Kirchner scored BU’s second empty-net goal at 19:45 to account for the 6-2 final.
The Terriers earned their first ever win against a WCHA squad, and will return to action on Saturday, October 9, with a matchup at Union at 2 p.m.
