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Lynn’s Katie Burt and the Boston College women’s hockey team are looking for their first-ever NCAA title.
By JOSHUA KUMMINS
CHESTNUT HILL — Lynn’s Katie Burt and the Boston College women’s hockey team have experience on the big stage.
Granted, losses in the national semifinals and national championship in back-to-back seasons are not the greatest of experiences, but they were experiences nonetheless.
As Burt enters her third Women’s Frozen Four in three seasons at the Heights, that experience is vital. The Eagles are hoping, though, that this third time’s a charm.
“It feels good to have confidence and experience going in,” said Burt, whose No. 4 Eagles (28-5-5) face No. 1 Wisconsin (32-2-4) in the first of two national semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday in St. Charles, Mo. “We’re ready and we’re excited to get out of here and get going.”
Burt leads all Hockey East goaltenders and ranks among the top six nationally in goals against average (1.55), save percentage (.933) and winning percentage (.792), and stepped up in a big way when the games mattered most over the last two weeks.
Having allowed just one goal in her last two games, Burt was named to the Hockey East All-Tournament Team after backing the Eagles to overtime wins over Vermont and Northeastern, and then made 24 saves in Saturday’s 6-0 win over St. Lawrence in the national quarterfinals.
According to BC head coach Katie Crowley, that’s just Burt.
“I obviously think that she’s a great goaltender, and she plays great in these big-time games,” Crowley said. “She knows a lot of the kids on this other team that we’re playing on Friday (through her USA Hockey experience) and how they play a little bit. I think she’ll be good for us.”
Saturday’s shutout was her eighth of this season, but the first of her career in six NCAA tournament games. Burt is 4-2-0 all-time in national postseason play and has allowed just nine goals on 158 shots.
Things are different as the Eagles enter this Frozen Four, and they have been different all season long. Last year’s big scorers Alex Carpenter and Haley Skarupa are no more.
Perhaps more than in Burt’s first two seasons, it has been a total team effort.
“It was kind of unknown as to who was going to be our go-to player. We don’t necessarily have one this year because I think it’s a lot more spread out,” Burt said. “But, we just have a sheer will to win, and we do it for each other.”
The Badgers are not only the only team in college hockey averaging more than four goals scored per game, but they surrender less than one. Behind Wisconsin’s success is an elite goaltender of its own in senior Ann-Renée Desbiens, who leads the NCAA in all major statistical categories.
Burt isn’t thinking too much about it, but it should be a special matchup.
“She’s one of the best goalies in the women’s game, at any level,” Burt said of Desbiens, a two-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given annually to the top player in women’s college hockey. “It’s pretty cool to be able to play against her, but I can’t score the goals so I’m not necessarily watching to see how she does. I just try to focus on myself and what I can do to give our team the best chance to win.”
Although Friday’s game will be a tall test, the Eagles don’t mind playing the role of an underdog. Last year’s Eagles entered their first-ever national title game with a 40-0-0 record, but lost to Minnesota in Durham, N.H. There’s really nothing to lose this time, and the Eagles head west as winners of six straight games.
“I think we’re hitting the perfect stride at the perfect moment,” junior forward Kenzie Kent said.
No matter whether the Eagles are favorites, underdogs or somewhere in between, there’s still just one ultimate goal in mind: to win two games, and return home with the program’s first championship.
There is an added bonus though. By advancing to the Frozen Four for the seventh time in program history, Burt and the Eagles just get to be a team for another weekend.
“The biggest part of the win was ― yeah, we’re going to the Frozen Four ― but we get another week together,” Burt said. “We’ve prolonged our season as far as it could possibly go.”
This time though, there’s still another, the biggest trophy to bring back.
