FILE PHOTO
Lynn native Katie Burt made 22 saves in Boston College’s win last week at Fenway Park.
By JOSHUA KUMMINS
BOSTON — There is no place for local sports fans quite like Fenway Park, but memories at “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark” are more often made on hot summer nights than in the midst of winter.
This past week, Fenway turned into a hockey wonderland as the Boston Red Sox and Hockey East teamed up to host the Capital One Frozen Fenway series.
“It’s really special,” Boston University captain Doyle Somerby said of the opportunity to play at Fenway. “It’s extremely unique to be able to play on Fenway in the first place, but to be from Marblehead and grow up coming here a lot is a really special thing.”
On Jan. 8, Somerby and the fifth-ranked Terriers earned a 5-3 win over UMass in the first of four Hockey East outdoor games played over the course of two weeks. The entire event, which ran from Jan. 3-16, included five Division I men’s games, two Division III games, seven official high school games, and a girls’ youth hockey clinic, as well as two figure skating shows.
Somerby was one of several locals who had the dream opportunity to take part in the hockey festivities. Lynn’s Katie Burt and Marblehead’s Lexie and Brianna Laing faced off with their Boston College and Harvard women’s teams on Jan. 10. Burt and Brianna Laing were the starting goaltenders for their respective teams that night, one that featured some adverse conditions, including a third period that was played through pouring rain.
“Especially coming from Boston, it’s one of those things that’s on your bucket list that you want to do,” said Lexie Laing. “You hear about Frozen Fenway every year, it’s on your bucket list, and I was thinking during the game, even playing in the rain is on your bucket list. … People were slipping and sliding out there, people were drenched. It was fun though.”
Laing leads Harvard with nine points through 16 games of her junior season, including an assist on the lone Crimson goal at Fenway. However, Burt made 22 saves to help the Eagles to a 3-1 win, the ninth in BC’s current 11-game unbeaten streak.
“It was really cool,” said Burt. “We got to go around the park and see everything. And, we got a couple minutes at the end of practice (last Monday) to take pictures and take it all in, so we could just focus on the game. It was awesome.”
The BC-Harvard clash capped off “Women’s and Girls’ Hockey Day” at Fenway, for which proceeds benefitted Denna Laing, Lexie and Brianna’s older sister who suffered a spinal cord injury while playing for the Boston Pride in last January’s first-ever women’s professional outdoor game.
Before the game, Denna Laing participated in a ceremonial puck drop with sister Lexie, BC captain Andie Anastos and current Pride players Alex Carpenter and Marissa Gedman. Earlier that day, Noble and Greenough School, the alma mater of all three Laings, played against BB&N.
“It was really special to see all the progress (Denna) has made,” Burt said. “I’ve been fortunate to play the Laing family all through the years around here, so that was awesome.”
At the Division III level, Saugus native Jordan Cross and her Connecticut College squad took on New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) foe Bowdoin on Thursday afternoon, while former Beverly’s Bailey MacBurnie, who formerly played at St. Mary’s, tended goal for UMass Boston that night.
In just his third collegiate start, MacBurnie made 37 saves to help the Beacons to a 5-1 win over Babson, their New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) archrival, Babson.
“I thought he played phenomenal,” UMass Boston head coach Peter Belisle said of MacBurnie. “He’s cool, calm and collected. His puck and rebound control were great, he stayed focused. I thought he was lights-out.”
Names and notes
- Burt helped BC to two more wins after Frozen Fenway as she combined for 37 stops in 1-0 and 3-1 wins over Merrimack. She moved into eighth place in NCAA history with her 27th collegiate shutout as she made 12 saves in Friday’s series opener. Burt followed up her fourth blanking of the season with 25 stops the following day, moving within one win shy (79) of tying Molly Schaus for BC’s career wins record.
- Lynn’s Isiah Robinson scored 11 points off the bench in the Connecticut College men’s basketball team’s 83-76 overtime win Saturday over No. 5 Amherst. Robinson shot 4-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point range, with eight of his points coming in the second half.
- Lynn’s Marcos Echevarria tied his career-high with 37 points and made 16 of his 17 free throws ― the second-most in a single game in Nichols College program history ― in the Bisons’ 93-80 loss at Endicott on Saturday. Echevarria also drained five triples and eight of his 14 field-goal attempts in the game.
- Saugus’ Tyler Granara registered an assist in each game this weekend as his 15th-ranked Amherst College men’s hockey team earned 4-1 wins over NESCAC foes Tufts and Connecticut College. The Purple and White are winners of six straight games.
- Peabody’s Jonathan Felteau scored his sixth goal of the season for the Salve Regina University men’s hockey team Saturday, but the then-No. 13/14 Seahawks dropped a 5-2 decision at Elmira. Felteau has points in three straight games, also including an assist in Friday’s 4-1 loss at Hobart.
- Saugus’ Norma Waggett has been the Salem State University women’s basketball team’s top scorer in four straight games after posting 16 points and seven rebounds in Saturday’s 67-45 loss to Bridgewater State.
- Senior attackman Will Jennings of Danvers was one of three Endicott College players named an Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-American last Thursday. Jennings set a new single-season program record with 80 goals for the Gulls’ 9-9 team last spring, while his 96 points rank second. He finished second in all of NCAA Division III with 4.71 goals per game in 2016.