Boston College Athletics
Women's Hockey Preview: Providence
January 19, 2011 | Women's Hockey
Jan. 19, 2011
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -
The seventh-ranked Boston College Eagles (14-4-4, 8-2-2 Hockey East) will face Providence (15-8-1, 6-5-1 Hockey East) on the road on Friday, January 21 in a 7:00 p.m. contest. The Friars lead the all-time series 32-9-2.
LAST TIME vs. PROVIDENCE (January 24, 2010)
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Boston College women's hockey team lost to Providence College, 6-3 on Sunday afternoon at Kelley Rink in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Boston College had a difficult time finding its momentum in the first two periods as the Eagles were outshot 18-8 prior to the start of the third period. The Friars were able to put three goals on the board in those two periods and the Eagles went into the third trailing 3-0.
The third period provided an increased amount of action for both teams. Blake Bolden gave the Eagles some life while on the power-play, blasting a slap shot into the top corner of the net to make the score 3-1 at the 07:21 mark. Providence would respond with a goal of its own before Allie Thunstrom recorded her third goal of the week to make the score 4-2.
The Friars added two more goals only 18-seconds apart before Danielle Welch grabbed the Eagles' third power-play goal of the game to make the final score 6-3.
Goalie Corinne Boyles made 19 saves on the day as the Eagles outshot the Friars 26-25. Eighteen of BC's shots came in the third period, 10 more than in the previous two combined.
EAGLES SPLIT HOCKEY EAST WEEKEND
BC may have begun last weekend with a 4-0 loss to Boston University on Saturday, January 15, but the Eagles rebounded with a 4-1 victory at Northeastern the next night to split their Hockey East weekend contests.
On Saturday, it was an even matchup between the Eagles and the Terriers in the scoreless first period. Both teams had several opportunities, with BU slightly outshooting BC 12-11, but nothing was converted until 5:54 in the second period when BU's Jillian Kirchner tallied a score to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead heading into the final frame. The Terriers eventually pulled away, scoring three goals in the last half of the third period, including one empty net goal to defeat BC 4-0.
In Sunday's contest, Kelli Stack lit the lamp for BC at 17:53 in the second period during a power play with assists from defensive duo Blake Bolden and Katelyn Kurth, and the Eagles never looked back. Mary Restuccia followed with BC's second goal, then Bolden put the puck between the pipes less than 30 seconds later. Northeastern responded with a shorthanded goal in the fifteenth minute but Danielle Doherty netted BC's final goal for a 4-1 finish.
WASYLK EARNS FOURTH ROOKIE OF THE WEEK AWARD
For the fourth time this season, freshman Taylor Wasylk has been named the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week after tallying three goals in two games.
On Monday, January 3 Wasylk ushered in the New Year by contributing the Eagles' final goal in a 3-1 win at Yale. The Port Huron, Michigan native extended her scoring streak on Saturday, January 8 at Maine, netting two goals in the 6-1 conference win.
Wasylk (12-7-19) leads BC's rookies in all scoring and is second on the team in goals behind Kelli Stack. In Hockey East, she is ranked second in Freshman Scoring.
BLISTERING PACE
Kelli Stack, who has 368 points - 23 goals, 15 assists - is the top goals scorer in Hockey East and nationally is ranked second in goals per game (1.10) and ninth in points per game (1.81). She returned to the Heights this season after competing with the U.S. Women's team in the Vancouver Winter Olympics last year, where she won a silver medal.
She has tallied at least one point in 18 games, including 12 multiple-point efforts. Three of those games have been three-point contests and on December 5 against Harvard, Stack tallied a four-point game with three goals and an assist.
No stranger to accolades, this season she has twice won Hockey East Player of the Week in November (Nov. 1, 22) and been named Hockey East Player of the Month for October and November.
