The Boston University women’s hockey team brightened a gloomy Saturday afternoon when it defeated Providence College 5-2 at Walter Brown Arena.
While the team collected an important win of its own, junior forward Rebecca Leslie garnered a more significant, personal milestone while leading her team to victory.
The Terriers (12-8-5, 8-7-4 Hockey East) started out with an early two-goal lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, thanks to two points by Leslie (one goal, one assist). They finished the game strong, with key contributions from junior forward Victoria Bach (three assists) and junior forward Nina Rodgers (two goals).
Leslie’s second point of the game was a big one: it was her 100th career point for the Terriers.
BU head coach Brian Durocher credited Leslie’s hard work for the achievement.
“[Leslie] is a fabulous player, very talented,” Durocher said. “She has great skating skills and great puck possession skills. Just seeing her come back in the lineup yesterday despite having a whisk of rust you would’ve never have known it. It’s great.”
Since coming back from injury on Saturday at Providence, Leslie has four points, including three goals in two games. Durocher recognized that she could be the spark plug to propel the team going forward as they strive for a Hockey East title and beyond. She provides necessary depth behind the dynamic first line of Bach, Rodgers and forward Mary Parker.
“There’s nothing that says she can’t have a great end of the year and a 12-14 game run,” Durocher said. “We’ll need her if we’re to get some trophies and be playing at the end of the year.”
Durocher recognized Leslie’s points as especially important as they came at a crucial time, providing her team with a much needed boost right out of the gate. She had a part in each of the first two goals for the Terriers to help them get out to a quick start.
Durocher said he had stressed the importance of starting fast to his team before the game.
“We haven’t played really well in the early part of the game since the break,” Durocher said. “It was really bad yesterday. It was terrible, so we talked about it. We went with the new cell phone rule today, so we put them down in the equipment room and they might be living there for a while.”
Leslie was humble about her feat, deflecting the credit to her teammates.
“I think it’s a great accomplishment, but it comes from a lot of the great players that I’ve played with in my three years here,” Leslie said. “I learned a lot my first year and was able to play in some key situations, so I’m very thankful for that.”
Leslie helped a teammate reach a milestone as well. Redshirt sophomore forward Anna Streifel scored her first collegiate goal off a pass from Leslie.
Leslie said Streifel deserves the recognition for her milestone and deserves the game puck, citing her hard work in her career.
“She’s worked really hard over the past three years but she works really hard off the ice as well,” Leslie said.
Durocher shared the same sentiment as Leslie.
“Yeah, nobody’s worked harder than [Streifel] has in the last two and a half years,” Durocher said. “I’m terribly happy for her.”
The Terriers’ next game is this Saturday at Merrimack, then the Beanpot tournament will start next Tuesday against crosstown rival Boston College. They will need Leslie and Streifel to continue their strong play if the team wishes to finish the conference schedule off strong and take care of business at the Beanpot.