Boston College Athletics
No. 9 Eagles Take On Vermont And Maine At Home
January 26, 2007 | Women's Hockey
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Jan. 26, 2007
#9 Boston College Eagles (16-6-2, 10-4-0 HEA) vs. Vermont (3-18-2, 1-10-1, HEA) / Maine (7-13-2, 2-8-2 HEA)
Saturday, January 27, 2007, 2:00 p.m.
vs. Vermont Catamounts
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - Conte Forum
Sunday, January 28, 2007, 2:00 p.m.
vs. Maine Black Bears
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - Conte Forum
DROPPING THE PUCK
Last weekend was a series of ups and downs for Boston College, beginning with a heartbreaker: a 3-1 loss to cross-town rival Boston University at Walter Brown Arena on Friday night. The Terriers broke a 1-1 tie with 1:26 remaining in the game, and then sealed the win with an empty net goal in the last minute. The Eagles played host to the Terriers on Saturday afternoon in Conte Forum, and played with a higher intensity than the night before, cruising to a 6- 0 win. For the fourth time in six games, Boston College had shut out its opponent. Freshman Allie Thunstrom tallied four points, including her third shorthanded goal of the season. The biggest "up" of the weekend for the Eagles was finding themselves in sole possession of first place in the Hockey East standings with 20 points.
BC vs. THE CATAMOUNTS
The Eagles are 11-2 all-time against Vermont. Boston College has now blanked the Catamounts in four straight meetings and in five of the last six games. BC and UVM first met on February 12, 1995 in a 7-0 Eagle victory. The Catamounts' last win over the Eagles came on October 30, 2003 by a 3-1 score in Gutterson Fieldhouse. Saturday's match-up will close out the season series with Vermont.
BC vs. THE BLACK BEARS
The Eagles are 11-11-4 against the Black Bears in the all-time series, losing just once in the last nine meetings. Earlier in the season, on October 15, Boston College left Orono with a 5-3 win and their first two points of the season. Maine last defeated Boston College on February 25, 2006, 4-1, at Conte Forum. The biggest wins for the Eagles--13-0 and 12-2 scores--were the first two games in the series beginning on October 30, 1994. Sunday's contest will be the second in the three-game series. The final game of the series will be played on the last day of the regular season, February 24, also in Chestnut Hill.
SKATING STRIDES EVENT
Saturday's game against Vermont will be one of four Women's Hockey East games on January 27th hosting the WHEA's "Skating Strides Against Breast Cancer" Campaign. The afternoon will feature a merchandise table with pink junior wood sticks donated by TPS, pink and white BC Hockey t-shirts, and bracelets to benefit the Friends of Mel Foundation, along with a post game raffle of pink composite sticks, game-used and autographed by both teams, and pink and white practice jerseys. Both teams will also host a post-game autograph session. The Eagles will ask for a $5 donation at the door with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society and Mel's Foundation.
YOUNG GUNS
Goals Assists Points Freshmen 45 61 106 Sophomores 33 43 76 Juniors 14 31 45 Seniors 3 4 7 Team 95 139 234
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Several Eagle sophomores have not disappointed this season after successful rookie campaigns. Already, forward Meghan Fardelmann (14-8--22) and defender Stephanie Olchowski (0- 5--5) have exceeded their point totals from last year. Both Becky Zavisza and Brie Baskin are on the verge of doing the same by season's end. Zavisza, with 28 points, is one point away from matching her total last season, while Baskin notched her first career goal this season and doubled her point total last weekend with a goal and an assist, inching her closer to the six points (all assists) she registered in 2005-06.
SHUTTING DOWN THE OPPOSITION
Eagle goaltenders Molly Schaus and Johanna Ellison have combined for four shutouts in the last six games, lowering their goals against average to 1.97 and 1.24 respectively. In all games, Boston College ranks second in the league only behind New Hampshire with a team defense of 1.92 goals allowed per game, with an even lower average of 1.86 gapg during league contests. Even more impressive, during the five shutouts it has handed out this season, the Boston College offense has produced 33 goals.
THE NATIONAL SCENE (as of January 23, 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 (10) 1. Mercyhurst College (10) 2. Wisconsin (9) 2. Wisconsin (5) 3. Dartmouth 3. Dartmouth 4. New Hampshire 4. Harvard 5. Harvard 5. New Hampshire 6. St. Lawrence 6. St. Lawrence 7. Minnesota-Duluth 7. Minnesota-Duluth 8. Minnesota 8. Minnesota 9. Boston College 9. Boston College 10. Ohio State 10. Ohio State RV: Connecticut, Minn. State, Mankato. RV: Colgate, Minn. State, Yale.
THE ROAD AHEAD
The Eagles will travel to Durham, N.H. for the rubber match of the season series with UNH next Saturday, February 3 at 2:00 p.m.
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 52-59-13 (.480).
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
Meghan Fardelmann, So. F; Lansing, Kan. TPS Player of the Week (Jan. 15) NEHJ Player of the Week (Jan. 18) 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)
