Sights Set on Vermont in Semifinals

2017 HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT
Semifinal Round
No. 1 seed Boston College (25-5-5) vs. No. 5 seed Vermont (15-13-9)
Saturday, March 4, 2017 | 1:30 p.m.
Walter Brown Arena | Boston, Mass.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Semifinal 1: Saturday, March 4 at 1:30 p.m. | No. 1 seed Boston College vs. No. 5 seed Vermont
Semifinal 2: Saturday, March 4 at 4:30 p.m. | No. 2 seed Northeastern vs. No. 3 seed Boston University
Championship: Sunday, March 5 at 1:30 p.m. | Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner | TV: NESNPlus

SEARCHING FOR TITLE NO. 3

Boston College is in search of its third Hockey East Tournament title
BC broke a five-year drought last year with a 5-0 win in the championship game over No. 3 seed BU
The Eagles won their first HEA tournament championship in 2011 when they defeated fifth-seeded Northeastern, 3-1

TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE

Boston College is playing in its 12th Hockey East Tournament this year
The Eagles' 12 appearances are tied for third most in league history, behind Providence (15) and New Hampshire (14)
BC has won two championships (2011, 2016) and advanced to the last three championship games

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Boston College is 16-9 all-time in the Hockey East Tournament, advancing to the championship game six times (2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016) and winning twice (2011, 2016)
BC is 8-1 in the quarterfinal round, 6-4 in the semifinals and 2-4 in the championship game
2010 was the lone season in which the Eagles failed to advance to at least the semifinal round

HISTORY AS TOP SEED

This is the fourth-straight year in which Boston College is the No. 1 seed in the Hockey East Tournament
BC has an 11-2 record in the tournament as the No. 1 seed, falling in the 2014 and 2015 championship games to Boston University ... as the No. 1 seed, BC is 7-0 in the quarterfinals, 3-0 in the semifinals and 1-2 in the championship game
BC is 5-5 as the No. 2 seed (winning its 2011 title as the second seed), and has 0-1 marks as the Nos. 4 and 6 seeds

SEMIFINAL STORY

This is Boston College's 11th trip to the Hockey East Tournament semifinals, tied for most in league history
BC is 6-4 all-time in the semifinals, but has won its last three visits
The Eagles' last loss in the semifinals came in 2013 when third-seeded Northeastern beat second-seeded BC, 4-1
The only seasons in which BC did not advance to the semifinals were 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2010
As the No. 1 seed, Boston College is a perfect 3-0 in the semifinal round

KELLER, FRESHMEN ALREADY HONORED FOR 2016-17 BY HOCKEY EAST

Earlier this week, Hockey East announced the first portion of its 2016-17 season awards
Megan Keller earned her second Hockey East Best Defenseman award by a unanimous vote of the league's coaches ... this is the fifth-straight year a BC blue liner has won the award
Also, Caitrin Lonergan and Delaney Belinskas both copped unanimous selections to the Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team
In addition to the early awards, Andie Anastos was the runner-up for the Sportsmanship and Best Defensive Forward Awards

AGAINST VERMONT

Overall: 38-3-3
Home: 20-3-1
Away: 17-0-2
Neutral: 1-0-0
Hockey East: 32-1-3
HEA Tournament: 1-0-0
Series Notes
- Saturday's semifinal meeting will be the teams' fourth game this season ... BC has won all three previous regular-season match-ups ... the clubs met in a two-game series in Burlington Jan. 20-21, which the Eagles swept 3-2 (OT) and 3-0 ... the teams returned to the ice at Kelley Rink on Feb. 12, and BC won 7-1
- The programs have met 44 times since both teams have played as varsity squads, plus once before UVM ascended to varsity status
- The Eagles are 38-3-3 in the series since 1999-2000 when both teams were Division 1 varsity squads (UVM's second year of varsity status)
- The teams have met once on neutral ice, with BC winning the lone match in the 2014 Hockey East Tournament semifinals at Hyannis, Mass. ... at home, BC is 20-3-1 against UVM ... in Burlington, the Eagles are 17-0-2 against the Catamounts
- BC has won the last 14 meetings between the teams, and is 20-0-3 in the last 23 contests dating back to Nov. 2009
- Vermont's first-ever Division 1 win came against BC: a 3-2 OT win on Oct. 18, 2002 in Chestnut Hill ... UVM also won the 2003 meeting (3-1 at Kelley Rink) ... since that loss, BC is 32-1-3 against Vermont with the lone loss in that span coming on Nov. 7, 2009
- The teams have met once in the postseason, with the Eagles claiming a 3-1 win in Hyannis on March 8, 2014 in the Hockey East semifinals
Player Notes
- Andie Anastos (7-10-17 in 13 games) leads all current Eagles in scoring against UVM and is second in the career records behind Alex Carpenter (10-8-18) ... Anastos' 10 assists are tied for the most against UVM in program history ... she had multiple-point games against the 'Cats in each of her three games as a freshman (2013-14) and also tallied a goal at UVM last February... she had a pair of assists in January at UVM before posting a four-point day (1g, 3a) on Feb. 12 in the teams' last meeting
- Megan Keller has eight points in three games against UVM this season, part of her 11 total points ... she posted a career-best five-point day on Feb. 12, scoring two goals and assisting on three ... she is now tied for fourth in the Eagles' career scoring list against the 'Cats ... Keller had three points in the two-game trip to Burlington in January, including the game-tying goal with an extra skater with under a minute left on Jan. 20
- Kenzie Kent recorded one point the first six meetings she played against UVM, including a goal at Gutterson Fieldhouse last February ... she scored two goals on Feb. 12 at Kelley Rink
- Newkirk scored three goals in January in Burlington, including both game-winning goals before missing the Feb. 12 game with injury
- Haley McLean (2-3-5 in 12 games) has five points, all of which came in her freshman season - including a three-point effort in a 5-2 win at Kelley Rink on Jan. 17, 2014
- Kali Flanagan (1-3-4) notched a goal and two assists in the two-game January series, including a goal on Jan. 21
- Grace Bizal (0-2-2) saw both of her assists come on Jan. 23, 2016 in the 6-1 win at Kelley Rink, but she missed the last two meetings after suffering an injury midway through the Jan. 20 game in Burlington
- Delaney Belinskas (1-2-3) and Caitrin Lonergan (0-2-2) also picked up multiple points in the January trip to Vermont
- Katie Burt is 8-0-0 against Vermont in 8 starts, posting an 0.92 GAA with a .947 save percentage and four shutouts ... all four of her shutouts have come in Burlington
- Gabri Switaj is 1-0-0 vs. UVM, winning her lone start last Jan. 23, 2016 while making 17 saves in the 6-1 win
Coaching Notes
- Katie Crowley is 27-1-3 all-time against Vermont

KELLER, BURT RECOGNIZED AS FEBRUARY'S TOP PLAYERS

On the same day that Megan Keller was named the Hockey East Best Defenseman for the second year in a row, she also drew her first-ever Hockey East monthly award
After a 14-point month while backing the league's best defense in February, Keller earned Hockey East Player of the Month honors ... it's her first-ever monthly award, which has traditionally honored offensive players
Additionally, Katie Burt repeated as the conference's goaltender of the month following a February in which she led the league in goals against average (1.69), save percentage (.933) and shutouts (2), while her five wins were second-most in the league
To close the month, the duo backed the Eagles to a two-game sweep of Merrimack in the Hockey East quarterfinals, in which Keller posted a series-high four points (2 goals, 2 assists - including the game-winning goal in Game 2) and Burt recorded back-to-back shutouts in the 4-0 and 1-0 victories.

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Players Mentioned

Andie Anastos

Delaney Belinskas

Grace Bizal

Katie Burt

Alex Carpenter

Kali Flanagan

Megan Keller

Kenzie Kent

Caitrin Lonergan

Haley McLean

Gabri Switaj