Frozen Four Berth Up for Grabs Saturday

2017 NCAA TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinal Round
No. 4 Boston College (27-5-5) vs. No. 6 St. Lawrence (26-5-4)
Saturday, March 11, 2017 | 1 p.m.
Kelley Rink at Conte Forum | Chestnut Hill, Mass.

3-FOR-3 THIS TROPHY SEASON ...

Boston College has already claimed its first three trophies of "Trophy Season"
The Eagles won the 2016-17 Hockey East regular-season title outright on Feb. 3 ... it was BC's fourth-straight regular-season crown
On Feb. 7, BC claimed its seventh Beanpot title with a 2-1 win over Northeastern at Matthews Arena
Last Sunday on March 5, BC won its third Hockey East Tournament title - and second in a row - with another 2-1 win over Northeastern at BU's Walter Brown Arena
This is the second straight year - and second time overall - that Boston College has won at least three trophies in a season ... prior to the 2015-16 season, BC had won two trophies twice: 2010-11 (Beanpot, Hockey East Tournament) and 2013-14 (Beanpot, Hockey East regular-season)

... BUT STILL SEARCHING FOR NATTY NO. 1

Boston College has one more trophy on its To-Do List: the National Championship
The "Natty" remains the one trophy BC has yet to claim in its history

TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE

Boston College is playing in its ninth NCAA Tournament overall this year, and its seventh straight event
The Eagles' nine appearances are tied with this weekend's opponent - St. Lawrence - for the third-most appearances in NCAA Tournament history ... this year marks Minnesota's 15th appearance (most ever), followed by four teams with 11: Minnesota Duluth, Wisconsin, Harvard and Mercyhurst
BC claimed its first-ever runner-up finish last year, and has five times finished third (most in tournament history)

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Boston College is 7-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the championship game once (2016) and the national semifinals five other times (2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015)
BC is 6-2 all-time in the Quarterfinal round, and is 5-0 when hosting the first-round game ... the Eagles are 1-5 in the national semifinals and 0-1 in the national championship
BC has failed to advance to the Frozen Four just twice in eight prior trips to the NCAA Tournament: 2009 and 2014 ... in both seasons, BC did not host the Quarterfinals at Kelley Rink

HISTORY AS THE NO. 4 SEED

This is the fourth time Boston College has been granted the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament: 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2017
BC has a 3-3 record in the tournament as the No. 4 seed ... BC is 3-0 in the Quarterfinals as the No. 4 seed, and 0-3 in the national semifinals
BC is 2-1 as the No. 1 seed, 1-1 as the No. 2 seed and 1-4 when unseeded

THE QUARTERFINAL STORY

Boston College has played in eight prior NCAA Quarterfinal matches, going a combined 6-2 in those games
BC has hosted the Quarterfinal round five times, going 5-0 in those games
The Eagles have gone on the road in the round-of-eight three times, posting a 1-2 mark in the road contests
BC has won its last two quarterfinal games, and five of the last six: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016

HISTORY AS THE HOST

Boston College has hosted the Quarterfinal round five times: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016
BC is a perfect 5-0 in those games at Kelley Rink, advancing to the Frozen Four each time
BC has out-scored its opponents 23-7 in those gave games, averaging 4.60 goals per game, while allowing just 1.40 goals per contest

ECAC FAMILIAR POSTSEASON FOES

The ECAC has been a familiar NCAA foe for the Eagles ... BC has met an ECAC team seven times in the NCAA Tournament, going 5-2 against its fellow Easterners
The Eagles are 4-1 in the Quarterfinals against ECAC teams: 3-0 at home and 1-1 on the road
This will mark the sixth straight year BC will meet at least one ECAC team in the eight-team field: 2012 vs. St. Lawrence (QF), 2013 vs. Harvard (QF), 2014 at Clarkson (QF), 2015 vs. Clarkson (QF), Harvard (SF) and 2016 vs. Clarkson (SF)
Boston College's first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament came against an ECAC team: 2007 at Dartmouth in the quarterfinals

ONLY NEW ENGLAND INVITATION TO THE DANCE

Boston College is the only program from New England to earn a berth in the 2017 NCAA Tournament
This is the first time since the NCAA Tournament bracket expanded to eight teams in 2005 that there has been only one representative from New England
Since the launch of the NCAA Tournament in 2001, this is just the second time there has been only one New England representative, as just Brown qualified for the 2002 NCAA Tournament when it was still a four-team bracket
Every other edition of the NCAA Tournament bracket has featured at least two New England programs

AGAINST ST. LAWRENCE

Overall: 16-11-4
Home: 10-7-2
Away: 6-4-2
NCAA: 1-0-0
SERIES NOTES
- Boston College is 16-11-4 all-time against St. Lawrence, including a 10-7-2 mark at home and a 6-4-2 mark in Canton, N.Y.
- This is the second meeting in the NCAA Tournament between the teams ... the programs last met in the 2012 NCAA Quarterfinals, with BC claiming a 6-3 victory at home over the Saints to advance to the team's third Frozen Four
- BC is undefeated - 7-0-1 - in their last eight meetings with the Saints dating back to March 20, 2012, including a 5-0 mark at home and a 2-0-1 mark on the road
- Since Katie Crowley assumed leadership of the Eagles' program, BC and St. Lawrence have played regularly in-season
- This season was the first time since 2007-08 that the teams did not meet at least once in the regular season
- Since Crowley has been head coach, the teams have played a two-game series in seven of the 10 seasons ... the programs met once in both 2011-12 and 2012-13 before resuming the two-game series in 2013-14
- Despite not meeting this year, the teams have agreed to a two-game series next year in Canton
- The programs' first-ever meeting came in the Eagles' first varsity season: Jan. 13, 1995 when BC claimed a 6-5 win at Kelley Rink
- The teams' senior classes have played six games against either team, while the juniors have played four and the sophomores two ... Saturday's meeting will be the first for the programs' freshmen
PLAYER NOTES
- Andie Anastos shares Eagles' active leading scorers against St. Lawrence with five career points from 3 goals and two assists ... she has posted at least one point in each of her three seasons, including two goals at home as a freshman, one goal on the road as a sophomore and two assists at home as a junior
- Kristyn Capizzano also shares the Eagles' active scoring lead, tallying one goal and adding four assists in six games ... she also has points in each of her three seasons, with two assists as a freshman, one goal and one assist on the road as a sophomore, and one assist as a junior at home last year ... her goal as a sophomore was the Eagles' game-winning goal in the 2-1 win in Canton
- Megan Keller has four points in four games against the Saints, all coming in the two-game series at Kelley Rink last year ... she had a three-point game (2-1-3) in the 7-4 win on Oct. 11, before adding another goal in the 7-3 win the next day
- Makenna Newkirk pushed her career-opening point streak to four games with points in both contests at Kelley Rink last year ... she netted an empty-net insurance goal on Oct. 11, before scoring and adding two assists the following day
- Kali Flanagan registered three assists in the two-game series last year - one in the first game and two in the second
- All three of Kenzie Kent's assists also came in the series at home last year, with two in the first game and one in the second
- Grace Bizal collected her first career point in last year's 7-3 win on Oct. 12, picking up an assist on Alex Carpenter's game-opening goal
- Katie Burt has made three starts against the Saints, going 2-0-1 ... she has a 2.27 GAA and an .889 save percentage ... last year she allowed four goals on 24 shots in the 7-4 victory, but allowed 1 and 2 goals in the two games in Canton her freshman season - which were her second and third career starts.
- Gabri Switaj started the second game against St. Lawrence last year, claiming the win while allowing three goals on 12 shots
COACHING NOTES
- Katie Crowley has a 9-5-2 mark against St. Lawrence as a head coach at BC

SENIORS ARE FOUR-FOR-FOUR IN MAKING THE FINAL EIGHT

The Boston College senior class has been NCAA participants in each of its four seasons at The Heights
The Class of 2017 is the fourth straight BC class to reach the NCAA Tournament in each of its four seasons
Beginning with the Class of 2014, each of the last four classes has played in the NCAA Tournament all four seasons
No class has yet to reach a Frozen Four in each of its four seasons, but three classes so far - Class of 2014, Class of 2015 and Class of 2016 - have advanced to three Frozen Fours
Only one player in program history has reached four Frozen Fours with the Eagles: Alex Carpenter '16, who went as a freshman in 2012 and as a sophomore in 2013, then returned from the Olympics to go as a junior in 2015 and a senior in 2016

AGAINST RANKED TEAMS THIS YEAR

BC has faced just a pair of ranked teams this season, playing four games between Quinnipiac and Northeastern
Overall this year, BC is 2-1-1 against ranked teams
Oct. 21-22, No. 6 BC tied No. 3 Quinnipiac, 0-0, at home before winning, 4-1, in Hamden
On Nov. 20, No. 6 BC and No. 10 Northeastern played to a 2-2 tie, before the teams met a week later on Nov. 26 with BC winning, 4-2 ... both games were at Matthews Arena

JUNIOR CLASS ECLIPSES CENTURY MARK

The Boston College Class of 2018 - the junior class - won its 101st game on Sunday en route to claiming the 2017 Hockey East Tournament championship
They are the only class in BC program history to reach 101 wins by the end of its junior season
In the NCAA era (2000-01 to present), the BC junior class is just the sixth class to reach 100 wins before their senior seasons joining:

            Wisconsin Class of 2009           101 wins
            Minnesota Class of 2014           101 wins
            Minnesota Class of 2015           113 wins
            Minnesota Class of 2016           113 wins
            Minnesota Class of 2017           107 wins

CLASS OF 2017 WILL GRADUATE AS WINNINGEST CLASS, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

The BC senior class is currently tied with the Class of 2016 as the winningest class in program history (128 wins)
A victory Saturday would push the Class of 2017 to 129 wins and the new winningest team at The Heights

A WIN WOULD BE THIRD (PLACE)

Should the Eagles win on Saturday against St. Lawrence, the team would post its 28th win of the season
28 wins would be the team's new third-highest win total in program history, behind 40 in 2015-16 and 34 in 2014-15
BC's current 27 wins is tied for third on the single-season wins chart with the 27-win seasons registered in 2012-13 and 2013-14

THIRD-FEWEST LOSSES IN PROGRAM HISTORY ALSO GUARANTEED

Regardless of the season's outcome in the NCAA Tournament, the 2016-17 season is guaranteed to feature the third-fewest losses in program history
BC has five losses coming into the NCAA Tournament
The fewest losses in program history is one (2016-17), while three is the second-fewest (2015-16)
The current third-place figure is seven (three times: 2010-11, 2012-13 and 2013-14)

CAPTAIN COMES THROUGH WITH A TROPHY

Senior captain Andie Anastos came in the clutch for the Eagles last weekend at the Hockey East Tournament
In the semifinals, Anastos scored the game-winning goal 3:03 into the second overtime to send BC to championship game
In the championship game on Sunday, she again netted the game-winning goal in overtime, this time scoring 5:44 into the first OT to give the Eagles their third HEA Title and second in as many years
Anastos not only earned HEA All-Tournament Team honors, but was also voted the Most Valuable Player in the Tournament

ANASTOS TO SET GAMES PLAYED RECORD SATURDAY

On Saturday, Andie Anastos is expected to set the Boston College games played record when she lines up at center for her 155th career game
She enters the game with 154 games played, tied with Lexi Bender '16 as the program's career leader
Anastos has dressed for every game BC has played since her freshman year and not missed any games

BIZAL IS BACK!

Grace Bizal returned to the line-up last weekend after missing exactly six weeks
She suffered an injury in the Eagles' Hockey East conference game at Vermont on Feb. 20 and missed the second game in Burlington on Feb. 21
The sophomore sat a total of 11 games while she was injured, and BC went 8-2-1 in that span
She returned to the lineup in the Hockey East Tournament semifinals, and recorded an assist in each game while buoying the Eagles' defense to the title

KELLER POSITIONED HERSELF AS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

While Megan Keller has been the nation's most impactful defenseman the last two seasons, this year she was the Hockey East Player of the Year
On the offensive end of the ice, Keller's 1.15 points per game overall ranks 20th nationally and she's the only defenseman in the top 35
She's the only defenseman in the nation averaging 1.00 point per game (or better)
Her 0.88 assists per game are eighth-best nationally among all skaters
In league play, her 1.35 points per game was the second-best mark among all skaters - and is an increase from her 1.21 ppg average last year
She finished sixth overall in Hockey East scoring with 27 points, and she is the only defenseman in the top 20
Her 21 assists in league play led all Hockey East players and she was the only player in the conference to average more than 1.00 assists per game
Keller led Hockey East in plus/minus (+25), six points higher than the next non-teammate and 10 points better than the next closest defenseman
Defensively, BC ranks fifth nationally, allowing 1.59 goals allowed per game
The Eagles surrender just 23.32 shots per game, seventh least in the nation
In special teams - where Keller anchors both units - the Eagles also lead the nation on the power play (26.2 percent) and rank second on the penalty kill (91.2 percent) ... BC also topped both charts in league play

KELLER, NEWKIRK DRAW ALL-HOCKEY EAST HONORS

Megan Keller copped her third-straight Hockey East First-Team All-Star honor this season, one of two unanimous choices to the first team ... Keller also earned her second Hockey East Best Defenseman Award in as many seasons, marking the fifth straight year a BC blue liner has won the award
Additionally, Makenna Newkirk drew a spot on the Hockey East Second-Team All-Star Team this year ... she was the 2016 Hockey East Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie Team honoree
A trio of Eagles - Katie Burt, Andie Anastos and Kali Flanagan - garnered Honorable Mention All-Star Honors

FRESHMEN ALSO HONORED FOR 2016-17 BY HOCKEY EAST

Caitrin Lonergan and Delaney Belinskas both copped unanimous selections to the Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team
The duo of Eagles were two of the three unanimous selections to the All-Rookie Team
This is the ninth straight year BC has placed at least one player on the All-Rookie squad, and the seventh time at least two Eagles have been voted to the all-freshman team

EAGLES' SPREAD OFFENSE

BC's offense is one of the nation's most diverse ... the Eagles claimed 12 players who had recorded at least 10 points ... that was tied for the third-highest total in the country behind Wisconsin (15) and Northeastern (13)
There are seven Eagles who've collected 20 or more points, which was third-most nationally behind Wisconsin and Providence's 9 and BU, Clarkson and Colgate's 8
Just under half - 17 - of the 35 Division I programs nationally claim at least one 30-point scorer ... BU leads the way with 6, while BC was tied for second with Clarkson with 5 ... Princeton and Wisconsin have the third-most (4)
BC also has five players who have scored at least 10 goals, a figure that was tied for second nationally behind Boston University and Wisconsin's six 10-goal scorers
The 10 Eagles with 10 or more assists ranked third nationally, behind Wisconsin's 12, Providence's 11 and tied with BU's 10
Additionally, BC has five players who have collected at least 10 goals and 10 assists, a figure that was tied for second-most nationally with Colgate behind BU (6)

ROAD WARRIORS THIS YEAR ...

BC has played a total of 21 games away from home this year - away or neutral - a total that is tied for most in the country with UConn, Merrimack, Ohio State and Bemidji State
BC's 15 wins away or at neutral sites are second-most nationally behind Wisconsin's 16, and tied with St. Lawrence
The Eagles have played 17 away games this season with four neutral-site games, to just 16 home games

... BUT LOVING HOME LIFE

Boston College's 16 home games this season are tied for the third-fewest in the country
However, BC has the second-highest home winning percentage this season: .844
The Eagles went 12-1-3 at home this year, bettered only by Wisconsin and Minnesota Duluth's matching 15-1-2 records (.889) at their respective home rinks
They were the only three teams in the country to lose just a single game at home this year
Additionally, BC has allowed just 1.25 goals per game at home in 2016-17, the second-best mark in the country behind Wisconsin's 0.67 GAPG

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Andie Anastos

Delaney Belinskas

Lexi Bender

Grace Bizal

Katie Burt

Kristyn Capizzano

Alex Carpenter

Kali Flanagan

Megan Keller

Kenzie Kent

Caitrin Lonergan

Makenna Newkirk

Gabri Switaj