BANGOR, Maine – Carly Jackson put in a pair of solid performances between the pipes as the University of Main Black Bears swept the Boston University Terriers in NCAA Hockey East women’s hockey this past weekend.
That effort led the 20-year-old Hastings resident and former Cumberland County minor hockey product to earning defensive player of the week honours in Hockey East.
“We had a pretty good weekend,” Jackson said. “These were two big wins for us in conference play because it gives us some separation from the teams behind us.”
Jackson faced 24 shots in a 3-2 win on Sunday for the Black Bears, who moved to 14-6-3 in overall action and 8-3-2 in conference play, while on Saturday Maine won 4-1 with Jackson facing 22 shots. It was Maine’s first win at Boston University’s Walter Brown Arena since 2012.
With the wins, the Black Bears – riding a three-game winning streak and eight-game unbeaten streak - were ranked 10th in the country in the latest coaches poll.
Jackson is playing a key role with the Maine squad this year with a 1.81 goals against average and .926 save percentage and a 12-5-5 record.
“We’re having a lot of fun this year after finishing last last season,” Jackson said. “We have a special group of players and I think we’re going to be in the hunt at the end of the season.”
She said it’s remarkable considering how many lower classmen (freshmen and sophomores) are on the team. She sees the team vying for the Hockey East championship and maybe getting into Frozen Four consideration – emblematic of collage hockey supremacy in the United States.
The club has 11 games, including games this weekend with Merrimack College. She hopes a pair of wins will move the club up the hockey rankings.
It has been a busy few weeks for Jackson. While home for the Christmas break she put on a series of clinics for minor hockey goalies.
“I always wanted to be able to give something back. When I was younger there were goalies and players coming back and doing something to help out the younger players,” she said. “Being on break, I had the time and was able to put something together. It was really fun and the kids were fun to be around.”
She said the Town of Amherst provided the ice through its free youth ice program and the 30 goalies received instruction at no charge from the NCAA goalie that’s in her second season as a full-time goalie with the Black Bears.
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
