BU women’s hockey players and head coach Brian Durocher during their 3-2 overtime victory over Holy Cross on December 9. The Terriers will face the Crusaders at Fenway Park on January 6. Photo by Iman Zarrinkoub (SDM’25)

Sports

BU Women’s Hockey Set to Play Holy Cross in 2023 Frozen Fenway Game

January 6 matchup will be the first Frozen Fenway experience for the Terrier women

While most Boston University students will be ringing in 2023 over intersession, the BU women’s ice hockey team will take on Holy Cross at Fenway Park on Friday, January 6, the first day of the Moderna Frozen Fenway 2023.

The multi-game college hockey event returns for its fifth iteration since its inception in 2010—and the first since 2017. The men’s hockey Terriers have played in three Frozen Fenway games, but the 2023 event marks the debut of the women Terriers. 

“We’ve been so close to the event, and we were just the squad that didn’t quite fit in yet,” says Brian Durocher (Wheelock’78), women’s head coach. “I think this is a great opportunity. Holy Cross is a neat matchup because we’ve got the Turnpike Trophy that we play for. I think it’s a lot of excitement for both programs, and I know [for] our kids, who can call Fenway Park one end of the BU campus. They have got an extra bit of excitement and readiness.” 

BU will face Hockey East opponent Holy Cross in the second of three matchups this season. The two schools compete for the Turnpike Trophy, a competition between the two rivals across their athletic programs, created by BU and Holy Cross in 2015. In their last 10 regular season matchups, the women’s hockey Terriers hold a 9-1 record against the Crusaders.  

“At the end of the day, we’ve played Holy Cross lots, but it’s more about us coming together as a team and being able to complete passes and play our systems to the best of our abilities in order to win the game,” says Terrier defenseman Alex Allen (CAS’22, GRS’23).

At their latest matchup, on December 9, the Terriers defeated the Crusaders 3-2 in overtime at Walter Brown Arena. The Frozen Fenway matchup will be the second meeting for the two squads in just under a month, with a third coming on January 13. 

Coaching the Crusaders is Katie Lachapelle, who was an assistant coach for the BU program from 2008 to 2017.

“It was definitely a good thing to have her back, and back in Wally B [Walter Brown Arena], especially last weekend,” says defenseman Madison Cardaci (Sargent’24). “The coaches are always in better spirits when she’s around, but it’s definitely a rivalry for them.”

For the Frozen Fenway matchup, the Terriers and Crusaders will play on an outdoor rink on the Fenway Park infield. New England’s (usually) frigid January open air poses a factor that’s foreign to Durocher’s squad. Anticipating the cold, Allen likens it to the hockey she played back home in Vancouver, Canada.

“Playing outside, it doesn’t really matter when you’re younger,” she says. “It’s sort of like pond hockey—you get to put the black paint over your eyes, have fun, and think you’re cool. But I’ve never actually had a competitive experience playing outside, so this will be a first for me.”

For Cardaci—who hails from Westminster, Mass.—the opportunity to play at Fenway Park is a dream come true. She attended Red Sox games growing up and supporting the city in this game has significance for her. 

“I think it’s definitely cool that a lot of my family get to come see us supporting Boston as a whole,” Cardaci says. “We wear ‘Boston’ across our chest and that means something much bigger than just our school. It means something for the whole community to see us out playing, especially as women, so it’s going to be a really good event.” 

For Allen, Frozen Fenway will serve as a circular moment for her Boston University career. Now a graduate student, she’s playing her fifth season with the Terriers, and she recalls one of her first experiences in Boston—a Red Sox home game. 

“I’d never gone to a baseball game before I came to tour the school, so it’ll just be such a full circle moment being able to play there and play my last year of hockey with such a cool experience like that.”

The Terriers won the Beanpot in 2019, Allen’s freshman year. It will be hard, she says, to decide which will be the bigger moment of her BU career—playing at Frozen Fenway or winning a Beanpot. 

Although Durocher is disappointed with the Terriers’ 7-12 season start, he believes his squad can turn it around, beginning at Fenway on January 6. 

“Fenway Park’s one of those venues around the world that people know about,” Durocher says. “Hopefully we can go in for a half-hour skate on Thursday [the day before the game], get a couple of the jitters out, and after that just play a hockey game the way you would in any building. I think it’s just another good day to celebrate Boston University, celebrate the women’s program, and the continued growth of the game, being at a place like Fenway Park.”  

The two-day Frozen Fenway event begins Friday, January 6, when the Harvard women’s team takes on Quinnipiac at 3 pm. The Terrier women’s hockey team plays against the College of the Holy Cross at 6:30 pm. On Saturday, January 7, the Northeastern men’s squad takes on UConn at 2:30 pm, followed by Boston College versus UMass at 6 pm. Tickets to the women’s doubleheader are $15 for all. The games will be streamed live on NESN.