BU Women’s Hockey Confident of Repeating Last Season’s Title Championship Despite Slow Start

BU Women's Hockey Confident of Repeating Last Season's Title Championship Despite Slow Start

In just her second season as head coach, Tara Watchorn led the women's ice hockey team to their sixth Hockey East championship last year-the first in a decade.

Last season also saw BU return to the NCAA tournament for the seventh time in program history. The Terriers were also ranked nationally for the first time since 2021, finishing the year at No. 11 in both the USCHO and USA Hockey polls.

"We want to bring people to BU that want to win and want to play on the national stage every year," Watchorn (Sargent'12) says. "That's always the goal."

Now, as she begins her third season helming the program, Watchorn sees the Terriers-albeit a very different team this time around-poised for another successful season.

The leadership group for the 2025-2026 season, led by captain Maeve Carey (COM'26) and assistant captains Sydney Healey (CAS'26), Maeve Kelly (CAS'26), and Riley Walsh (CAS'26), is completely different from last year's.

"We're all different, and I think that's great," Carey says. "We have very positive energy, but we also have very serious energy. We're all very competitive, but we each bring a different strength to the rink each day."

As reigning Hockey East champions this year, the Terriers enter the season with big expectations, a marked departure from last year. BU was unranked nationally leading up to the 2024-2025 campaign and was picked to finish sixth in the conference in the preseason poll. In the lead-up to this season, BU was chosen to finish second in the Hockey East preseason poll and entered the season ranked 11th nationally by the USCHO.

While the Terriers acknowledge that the pressure is there, Healey says they aren't concerned about it. "It's very exciting to have that pressure on us. We're just taking it one day at a time, and we're keeping that in the back of our heads, but we're not letting it run our practices or run our day."

Despite last year's achievements, team members know that with a substantially new roster, success takes time. Four games into the new season, BU sits at 0-4, still grasping for that first win. The Terriers opened the year with two losses to then-No. 3 Minnesota at Walter Brown Arena, 5-0 and 5-2, before falling twice on the road, 3-1 and 4-3, to Colgate, then No. 8. The team is currently ranked 13th nationally by the USCHO.

While the Terriers returned their top point getter from last season in Healey, they lost 11 players from last year's 24-win team to either graduation or the transfer portal. As a result, this year's program has seven freshmen and three transfer students.

Headlining the freshman class are forwards Lexie Bertelsen (COM'29) and Anežka Čabelová (CAS'29). Through four games, Bertelsen has notched a goal and an assist, while Čabelová has added a goal. Fellow forward Mia Vergilii (CAS'29), defenders Lucy Thiessen (CAS'29) and Avery Supryka (CAS'29), and goaltenders Sydney Fogu (Sargent'29) and Jackie Wright (CAS'29) round out the first-year group.

"Lexie and Anežka are doing a great job," Watchorn says. "Even Jackie in net, I know she's our third, but she is definitely pushing the pace in practice, which is really cool to see. With a lot of talent on the back end and defense, they're getting their feet wet, so I'm excited to see them continue to develop."

Backstopping BU this season will likely be a split between Mari Pietersen (Sargent'27) and Michelle Pasiechnyk (MET'26), who transferred from Clarkson University. Each has started two of the team's first four games. Watchorn has lots of good options in goal, she says, and they'll take it week by week, game by game.

Even with a slow start to their Hockey East title defense, the Terriers are confident in their ability to defend their crown, return to the national tournament, and reach new heights.

"Pressure is a privilege for us," Carey says. "We set the standard for BU hockey, and it's only going to go up from here."

The BU women's hockey Terriers host Brown on Friday, October 17, at 6 pm at Walter Brown Arena. Admission is free for students with a BU Sports Pass. Purchase tickets here. All hockey games can be streamed live on ESPN+.

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