BU 3, Providence 0

 

The Boston University women's hockey team won the opening round game of the Hockey East tournament Wednesday night, shutting out Providence, 3-0.

After a scoreless first period, Sydney Healey scored a shorthanded goal to give BU a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the second. The Terriers held that lead until late in the third when Healey tacked on an empty net goal and then Lilli Welcke, back from playing for Germany in the Winter Olympics, added a second empty netter to make it 3-0. Mari Pietersen made 20 saves for her fourth career shutout.

The Terriers advance to the quarterfinals, where they will play the tournament's top-seed, the No. 5-ranked Northeastern Huskies (26-7-1) on Saturday (4:00 pm). The Terriers were 1-3 against Northeastern during the regular season, with the sole win coming in OT in the Beanpot semifinal.

One more game. A loss will mean the season's over. A win will advance them to the next round of the Hockey East tournament, possibly leading to a conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA's Frozen Four tournament.