Boston College Athletics
Eagles Begin Second Half in Hanover
December 30, 2006 | Women's Hockey
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Dec. 30, 2006
Boston College Eagles (11-4-1, 6-3-0 HEA) vs. No. 5 Dartmouth College (11-3-1, 10-1-0 ECACHL)
Sunday, December 31, 2006
@ Dartmouth Big Green
1:00 p.m.
Thompson Arena, Hanover, N.H.
DROPPING THE PUCK
The Eagles ended the first half of the season on a high note: a 7-1 victory over Northeastern on December 9. The win not only improved Boston College to 11-4-1 overall, but it also catapaulted the Eagles into a three-way tie with Providence and New Hampshire for second place in the Hockey East standings.
The victory over the Huskies was the most balanced attack of the season to date as six different Eagles notched goals. Sophomore Becky Zavisza, junior Deb Spillane, freshmen Gabrielle Beaudry, Kelli Stack and Allie Thunstrom each scored a goal, and sophomore Meghan Fardelmann beat the goalie twice. The team tied season-highs in points (16) and goals (7).
BC vs. THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth leads the all-time series, 18-0-1, with the Eagles, so Boston College will be looking for its first victory over the Big Green since becoming a Division I program in 1994. Two of the last three meetings were one-goal games, identical 3-2 Dartmouth wins including an overtime affair at Thompson Arena on November 17, 2001. The last time the Big Green and the Eagles met in Hanover, where Boston College notched its lone tie, Dartmouth overpowered the Eagles, 7-1 on October 19, 2004.
TAKING "OFFENSE"
Sunday's match-up features two teams among the nation's top ten in scoring offense. Dartmouth, ranked fourth, averages 4.13 goals per game while Boston College scores 3.88 goals per game and is ranked seventh in that category. At the same time, both defenses are stingy, with the Big Green and the Eagles allowing just 1.67 and 2.25 goals per game respectively. Boston College has not allowed an opponent to score more than four goals this season.
FIRST HALF WRAP
The Eagles finished the first half of the season 11-4-1 (.720)--the best first 16 games in the 13 year history of the program. Boston College was ranked in both major polls for 10 of the first 13 weeks and are in a three-way tie for second place in Hockey East. A 7-2 win at home over second-ranked New Hampshire on November 2, 2006 highlighted the first semester.
YOUNG GUNS
The freshman and sophomore classes are creating noise for the Eagles this year. Those two classes have tallied 116 of Boston College's 147 points this season (79%) and 52 of 62 goals (84%). Four Eagles are in the nation's top 25 in rookie scoring. Below is the scoring break-down for each class.
Goals Assists Points Freshmen 32 37 69 Sophomores 20 27 47 Juniors 9 17 26 Seniors 1 4 5 Team 62 85 147ON THE ROAD
The Eagles are 5-2-0 on the road this season with the only losses being close 1-2 and 2-3 contests to New Hampshire and Providence, respectively. On the road, the Eagles have outshot, 212-160, and outscored, 29-15, opponents. Freshman Anna McDonald has lit the lamp more times than any other Eagle during away games, doing so six times. Sophomore Meghan Fardelmann has tallied nine of her 13 points on the road, including five goals and four assists.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Molly Schaus, a freshman out of Natick, Mass., has handled most of the goaltending duties for the Eagles this season, starting 15 games and compiling a 10-4-1 record. The rookie phenom has made 357 saves and recorded a 2.17 GAA at the season's halfway mark, and if she continues at this pace, Schaus is poised to land herself in the Boston College record books among the top five in each of those categories. Current assistant coach Alison Quandt `06 posted the best single season GAA in Eagles history last year (2.17).
SPECIAL TEAMS AMONG BEST
The Eagles are 13th in the nation on the power play (18.8%) and 11th in penalty killing (87%) while notching five shorthanded goals. Boston College's combined special teams, 110/193 for 57%, lands the Eagles third in the nation only behind Holy Cross (60.7%) and Wisconsin (58.6%).
THE NATIONAL SCENE (as of December 19, 2006)
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll Women's College Hockey Poll
Team (first place votes) Team (first place votes) 1. Mercyhurst College (19) 1. Mercyhurst College (14) 2. New Hampshire 2. New Hampshire 3. Wisconsin 3. Wisconsin (1) 4. Minnesota 4. Minnesota 5. Dartmouth 5. Dartmouth 6. Harvard 6. Harvard 7. St. Lawrence 7. St. Lawrence 8. Connecticut 8. Minnesota-Duluth 9. Ohio State 9. Connecticut 10. Minnesota-Duluth 9. Ohio State RV: Boston College, Clarkson U., RV: Boston College, Princeton, Clarkson, Princeton. Colgate.UNDER-22 SELECTS
This summer, three Eagles were invited to participate in the U.S. National Women's Hockey Festival, which served as a try-out for the U.S. Under-22 Select Team. Defenseman Maggie Taverna, and forwards Deb Spillane and Becky Zavisza traveled to Lake Placid, N.Y. for the festival, and Taverna and Spillane were selected to play in the Under-22 series against the Canadian team August 24-27. The Americans were edged, 2-1, by the Canadians in the series.
THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING...
The Eagles had their best season in program history last year, and with it came lots of firsts. On February 14, 2006, Boston College won its first-ever Beanpot trophy by defeating Harvard, 2-0, in the title game. Next, the Eagles picked up their first win in a Hockey East tournament game since joining the conference in 2002 when they beat Providence in the semifinals, 3-1. When Boston College moved on to play New Hampshire the next night, it marked the first conference title game for the Eagles. The girls from The Heights finished off their season by hitting the 20- win mark, a feat which none of the previous Boston College teams accomplished.
COACH'S CORNER
Tom Mutch enters his fourth season as head coach of the Boston College women's ice hockey program, a program he led last season to its most successful since it joined Women's Hockey East five years ago. His overall record at the Heights in three-plus seasons is 47-57-12 (.460).
Mutch earned his first women's hockey coaching experience in 1996 when he accepted a position as the United States Women's National and Olympic Hockey team assistant in Nagano, Japan. During his tenure there, Team USA captured an Olympic gold medal with a 6-0 record in 1998, culminating into a 3-1 victory over Canada in the finals. During the 1997 World Championship in Ontario, Canada, the Americans took home silver after falling to Canada, 3-1, in the championship game.
After Nagano, Mutch served as the assistant men's hockey coach for the Omaha Lancers Hockey Club (1998-2000) and the University of Nebraska-Omaha (2000-2002). In 2002, he returned to Boston for his second stint as the men's assistant hockey coach at Northeastern, where he had previously served as an assistant from 1994 to 1996.
Mutch skated for the Northeastern Huskies from 1986 to 1988. After college, he spent several years playing professional hockey in the Central Hockey League for both the Memphis Riverkings and the Flint Bulldogs. While with the Bulldogs (1991-92), he registered 30 goals and 40 assists, landing him second on the team in both goals scored and total points. As a Riverking (1992-93), he led the team with 43 goals. Mutch then spent one season playing with the Adendorgf (Germany) Lions Hockey Club.
Tom is married to Laurie Mutch, who is the assistant athletic director and women's hockey coach at the Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts. The couple just had their first child, Karleigh, on September 16, 2006.
EAGLE ACCOLADES THIS SEASON
Megan Keever, Fr. F; Harrisburg Pa. Mission Rookie of the Week (Nov. 7) USCHO Offensive Player of the Week Honorable Mention (Nov. 7) Molly Schaus, Fr. G; Natick, Mass. Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 2&23) ITECH Rookie of the Week (Oct. 8) Mission Rookie of the Month (October) ITECH Goalie of the Month (November) Kelli Stack, Fr. F; Brooklyn Heights, Oh. UNH All-Tournament Team (Nov. 25) Mission Rookie of the Week (Dec.11) Maggie Taverna, So. D; Howell, N.J. Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week (Nov. 20) Allie Thunstrom, Fr. F; Maplewood, Minn. TPS Player of the Week (Nov. 7) USCHO Offensive Player of the Week Honorable Mention (Nov. 7) Becky Zavisza, So. F; Suffield, Conn. USCHO Offensive Player of the Week (Nov. 7),
