Boston College Athletics
No. 8 Women's Hockey Takes On The Catamounts
January 11, 2007 | Women's Hockey
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Jan. 11, 2007
#8 Boston College Eagles (12-5-1, 7-3-0 HEA) vs. Vermont Catamounts (3-15-2, 1-7-1 HEA)
Friday, January 12, 2007, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 13, 2007, 2:00 p.m.
vs. Vermont Catamounts
Burlington, Vt. / Gutterson Fieldhouse
DROPPING THE PUCK
The Eagles started the hockey week early by defeating Northeastern at Kelley Rink on Tuesday evening, 4-1. The win gave Boston College two more points to force another threeway tie for second place in Hockey East, and it extended its win streak to two games. Sophomore forward Meghan Fardelmann scored twice in a matter of minutes in the second period to give the Eagles a comfortable 3-0 lead. Before Northeastern put a goal up on the scoreboard, sophomore Becky Zavisza potted the BC's fourth and final goal. The Eagles and Huskies completed their three-game conference series, with BC sweeping all six points, but the teams could potentially meet again in the Beanpot Tournament on February 13 or in the Hockey East playoffs in March.
BC vs. THE CATAMOUNTS
Boston College is 9-2 against the Catamounts, and a perfect 2-0 at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The last time the Eagles made the trip up to Burlington, Colleen Harris and Maggie Taverna each notched goals and Alison Quandt made 14 saves to earn the 2-0 shutout on January 16, 2006. The last five meetings between BC and UVM went in the Eagles' favor and head coach Tom Mutch has lost only one of six games against the Catamounts since arriving at the Heights. Friday night will be the first game between these teams this season. They will finish the season series in Chestnut Hill on Saturday, January 27 at 2:00 p.m.
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
Vermont is led by first year head coach Tim Bothwell who comes to Burlington by way of the Canadian National Team. The Catamounts (3-15-2, 1-7-1) earned their first Hockey East win last weekend by upsetting league-leading Connecticut with a late third period goal by Karen Sentoff. Both of UVM's other two wins came in October at home against Sacred Heart. Freshman Chelsea Furlani and Sentoff lead the team in points with 8, while Jenilee Roy has led all three goaltenders in minutes over the course of 11 games played.
YOUNG GUNS
The freshman and sophomore classes are creating noise for the Eagles this year. Rookies Allie Thunstrom and Kelli Stack are each in the nation's top 10 in rookie points per game, tied for eighth with each another. Below is the scoring break-down for each class.
Goals Assists Points Freshmen 38 49 87 Sophomores 25 33 58 Juniors 12 25 37 Seniors 1 4 5 Team 76 111 187HALF CENTURY FOR COACH
Tom Mutch could earn his 50th career head coaching win with a victory this weekend. All 120 games as a head coach (49-58-2, .470) have come while at the helm of the Eagles. Mutch's first year at BC was the 2003-04 season when he jumped cross-town from his second stint as the assistant for the men's program at Northeastern.
THE GOALS KEEP A'COMING...
Freshman Allie Thunstrom scored a goal in four consecutive games up until Tuesday night, including the fourth BC goal in both games last weekend. She continues to lead the team in goals with 15 and is tied for second on the the team with 22 points alongside classmate Kelli Stack. As a team, the Eagles' 13 goals over the last three games have risen their average to 3.8 goals per game, putting Boston College tied for seventh in the country in scoring offense. That number is even larger in Hockey East games where the Eagles average 4.5 gpg.
...AND THE AWARDS DO TOO
Freshman Kelli Stack was rewarded by the league earlier this week for her three-point, 11 shot weekend and her way of making things happen. Stack received Hockey East's Rookie of the Week for the second time this year, all coming in the past month. The Eagles have already claimed four rookies of the week this season. Meanwhile, junor co-captain Deb Spillane's four points over the two games positioned her as the USCHO Offensive Player of the Week.
THE NATIONAL SCENE (as of January 9, 2007)
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 (17) 1. Mercyhurst College (15) 2. Wisconsin (2) 2. Wisconsin 3. New Hampshire 3. New Hampshire 4. Dartmouth 4. Dartmouth 5. Minnesota 5. Harvard 6. Harvard 5. Minnesota 7. St. Lawrence 7. St. Lawrence 8. Boston College 8. Boston College 9. Minnesota-Duluth 9. Minnesota-Duluth 10. Princeton 10. Princeton RV: Ohio State, Clarkson, RV: Ohio State, Clarkson, Providence, Yale.THE ROAD AHEAD
Providence.
The Eagles play a home-and-home series against Boston University next weekend. BC will face the Terriers Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in Walter Brown Arena and both teams will travel down the road to Kelley Rink for a 4:00 p.m. match-up on Saturday.
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 49-58-13 (.470).
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) TPS Player of the Week (Jan. 2)
Deborah Spillane, Jr. F; Franklin, Mass. USCHO Offensive Player of the Week (Jan. 9)
Kelli Stack, Fr. F; Brooklyn Heights, Oh. UNH All-Tournament Team (Nov. 25) Mission Rookie of the Week (Dec.11, Jan. 8)
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) Mission Rookie of the Month (December)
Becky Zavisza, So. F; Suffield, Conn. USCHO Offensive Player of the Week (Nov. 7)
