In this fourth edition of Retaking the Ice, I’ve put together the All-2010’s Boston University Women’s Hockey team. The format of the team will be the same as the All-Decade men’s team I recently did: four forward lines, three defense pairs, an extra skater, three goalies, and honorable mentions at each position.
This team was stacked for nearly all of the 2010s! Assembling the four lines was way harder than for the men’s team since each player could have a spot on the roster. With that, let’s get rolling with those honorable mentions and then hit the crease with the goaltenders.
Honorable Mentions
G: Erin O’Neil (’14-’18)
D: (LD) Sarah Steele (’13-’17), (RD) Lilian Ribeirinha-Braga (’12-’16)
F: (F) Jill Cardella (’09-’13 and ’12-’13 co-captain), (C) Maddie Elia (’13-’17), (F) Nara Elia (’17-Present and ’20-21 co-captain)
Goaltenders
Third Goaltender: Victoria Hanson
Hanson bounced back and forth between starter and backup in her time as a Terrier, but when she was the starter in the 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons, she was a strong goaltender. Having posted her best season as a senior, with a .927 save percentage and being named a Hockey East first-teamer and the conference’s best goalie that season, Hanson makes the team as the third goalie.
Backup Goaltender: Kerrin Sperry
Sperry had the most playing time of any of the three net-minders on the team, and she made the most of each of her 127 games. Her freshman season kicked off the 2010’s as well as possible with a career-best 1.63 goals-against average as BU went 21-4-3. Staying steady in the low-two’s with GAA and finishing with a mark of 2.23 and a .922 save percentage for her career, she steadied the net as the team took off into its first run of brilliant seasons in the early 2010’s.
Starting Goaltender: Corrine Schroeder
When it comes to Terrier goaltenders, no one tops Corrine Schroeder. Standing at 5-foot-11 without skates, she becomes an imposing figure in the crease and she has the stats to back it up. A 1.96 GAA and a .930 save percentage are scary to read, and that only tells part of the story. Schroeder has improved greatly with each passing season, posting an insane 1.54 GAA and .943 save percentage this season (and both were second in Hockey East). Hopefully Schroeder peaks further in 2020-2021, but she has already played well enough to be the team’s starting goalie.
Now we’re onto the defense!
Extra Skater: Shannon Doyle
Doyle was an extremely talented defender who could also score points at will. She scored 53 points in her two seasons as a Terrier. She made the Hockey East first team in 2012-13, and she blocked over 106 shots while scoring 29 points in her redshirt senior season in 2014-15. While she is the seventh defender on the team, she is vital to the defense’s success.
Defense Pair No. 3: Connor Galway and Reagan Rust
This pair manned the top of the defensive corps for two seasons at BU, so it seems wise to put Galway and Rust back together again for the All-Decade team.
Galway was never the best scorer, but she brought great skills, awareness and physicality to the defense, and was a first-liner for her last two seasons at BU. She averaged 54 blocks per season over her last three seasons, and missed only four games in that stretch. She is a steady, strong defender and has to make the team.
Rust came to BU prior to her junior year, and fit like a glove, becoming co-captain as a senior. With a great defensive game, a strong offensive game, and the heroic shootout win in the 2019 Beanpot semifinal game, Rust cemented herself as a face of BU’s defense, even if she only played two years here.
Defense Pair No. 2: Alexis Miller and Kaleigh Fratkin
Unlike our last D-pair, this duo and our next never played together, but here we have two offensive-minded defenders who anchored the defense in their times.
After two years at New Hampshire, Miller transferred to BU and missed all of her first season here due to transfer regulations. But in Fall, 2015, she came back stronger than ever and had her two best collegiate seasons. BU’s 2016-17 co-captain averaged 20 points and 51 blocks as a Terrier. That skill has to crack the second D-pair.
Fratkin did not miss a single game in her four seasons at BU. Not to mention her continued improvement offensively and steady defense. In her final three seasons, her point total rose from nine, to 17, to 30, all while she blocked 130 shots just in her last two seasons. All told, Fratkin is a very skilled defender and is a lock for the team.
Defense Pair No. 1: Tara Watchorn and Abby Cook
If the second defensive pair is to be considered ‘offensive-minded,’ then our top defenders need to be considered ‘sluggers.’ Watchorn is the first of three players on the team to also play in the 2000’s, but don’t let that take away from what she did in this decade for BU: 50 total points and averaging almost a point per game from 2010 to 2012. Watchorn has to top the left defenders.
To make a comaprison to their men’s team counterparts, Abby Cook is this team’s David Farrance. A two-time Hockey East first-timer and one-time second-teamer, the all-time scoring leader for defenders, and averaging nearly 50 blocks per season in her career, Cook quarterbacks the power play, plays great defense, and scores at will. She has to join Watchorn to top this team’s defense
Lastly let’s get to the forwards!
Forward Line No. 4: Louise Warren, Jesse Compher and Samantha Sutherland
Let’s make two things clear before we proceed: (1) BU has got a lot of prolific scorers, (2) This team might have the scariest quartet of centers.
Off we go with the fourth line!
Warren is one of the Terriers on this team to appear in every possible game during her time at BU, so her durability would certainly not come into question. Warren greatly improved over her career, up to 46 points in her senior season in which she averaged over a point per game. A one-time Hockey East First-Teamer with many clutch moments during the 2013 NCAA Tournament, Warren’s skill and steadiness earn her a spot on the fourth line.
Compher is a force on the ice. With her speed, physicality and ability to set up goals with great ease, she has to make the team. She’s already entered the 100-point club, still has a season to go, and might be contending for the program’s top-five in points were it not for an injury and slow start to this season. BU’s 2020-21 co-captain is the first of four great centers to make the team.
Sutherland was a steady, durable winger in her seasons at BU. While playing alongside some of the best collegiate goal-scorers like Sarah Lefort, Marie-Philip Poulin, and other forwards to come on this team, Sutherland started her career strong and finished stronger with a 30 point season.
Forward Line No. 3: Isabel Ménard, Jennifer Wakefield and Jenelle Kohanchuk
This line features two players who arrived their junior years and became absolute forces along with very steady right winger.
Ménard was as steady as they come both while at Syracuse and BU. With 93 points scored in just two seasons, Ménard might have been a bit overlooked due to teammates like Lefort and Poulin, and that is a shame. Averaging over a point per game in her BU career, Ménard’s talent has to be on full display on the third line.
Wakefield arrived at BU and immediately took the offense by storm. In her two seasons at BU, the team’s 2011-12 co-captain scored 111 points (61g, 51a). Just imagine how much higher than eleventh Wakefield would rank if she was here for more than two seasons. The all-time leading goal scorer in Hockey East would be higher on the depth chart for sure… if she wasn’t a center.
Kohanchuk showed her scoring abilities from Day One as a Terrier, putting up 15 goals in her freshman season. She would go on to score 138 points and steady the left wing for BU as they headed to three straight NCAA Tournaments from 2011 to 2013. After getting redshirted in her senior season, she returned for the 2012-13 season and finished second on the team with 46 points.
Forward Line No. 2: Sammy Davis, Victoria Bach and Kayla Tutino
A two-year captain and Beanpot hero, Sammy Davis is not only a very talented player, but also has a great story. After a strong first two seasons, Davis had double-hip surgery and missed all of 2017-18. When she returned and dawned the ‘C’ on her jersey, Davis ascended to the elite level. After 49 points in two years, she scored 52 alone in 2018-2019: a season in which she scored the game winner for BU’s first Beanpot title since 1981. She’s a force and a leader, and has to make this second line.
We move to right wing next for Kayla Tutino, who played in more games than anyone else on the roster with 164. BU’s 2015-16 captain had the dynamic ability to score goals for herself and assist others just as well. With 144 career points, the only reason she averages so few points per game is because she played in almost every game possible! An All-Rookie teamer who overcame two season-ending injuries, Tutino’s skill, leadership and perseverance all land her on this second line.
What more do I need to say than this player is BU’s all-time scoring leader. Bach had a strong 34-point freshman season, and then took off! In her senior season, Bach scored over two points per game with 67 in 33 games, and she finished at 198 career points. No Terrier could score goals like Bach and it seems criminal to put her on the second line. However, as we will see on the first line, the top three are the only three who could keep her on line No. 2.
Forward Line No. 1: Sarah Lefort, Marie-Philip Poulin and Rebecca Leslie
Just imagine two things: (1) these three players being on the same team together, and (2), these three players playing on the same line!
Sarah Lefort left BU as the team’s highest scorer, and is currently second-highest behind Bach. She is easily the best left-winger the team has ever had. A unanimous All-Rookie teamer, and a second team All-American in 2013-14, Lefort arrived in Fall 2012 and immediately formed a tandem with her linemate in Poulin. Lefort led BU with 55 points in her sophomore season and finished second to Poulin the following season. She brings the performance history to show she deserves to be a first-line forward.
Next we will head to right wing where we find BU’s 2017-18 captain in Rebecca Leslie. By her senior season, she developed into one half of one of the most dangerous tandems in women’s hockey between herself and Bach. The two had 124 total points that season (67 for Bach and 57 for Leslie). An All-Rookie teamer, a two-time Hockey East Second-Teamer and New England Division I All-Star, Leslie’s accolades are only matched by her leadership and talent on the ice.
Lastly, let’s close out the roster with the greatest player to ever come to BU. The one considered the world’s best women’s hockey player: Marie-Philip Poulin. She averaged 1.63 points per game in her BU career! She left BU as the team’s all-time scorer with 181 points, and missed a lot of games to play with Team Canada, so one can only imagine how much higher her point total could be. Poulin could do it all while playing aggressive, clean hockey. She is the perfect cherry on top to this quartet of centers, this group of forwards and this entire All-2010’s roster.
As Porky Pig once said: “Th-th-th-that’s all, folks!” There’s the All-2010’s BU Women’s Hockey Team! Who did I leave out? How would you rearrange the lines? Drop a comment and be sure to make your own!
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