Regular-Season Title Up for Grabs against UMass Lowell

GAME DAY INFORMATION
WHEN	Friday, Feb. 26, 2016 (7 p.m.) // Saturday, Feb. 27, 2017 (7 p.m.)
WHERE	FRIDAY: Kelley Rink at Conte Forum (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) // SATURDAY: Tsongas Center (Lowell, Mass.)
HOW TO FOLLOW	FRIDAY: Video // Audio // Stats // Tickets \| SATURDAY: Audio // Stats
GAME NOTES	Boston College: PDF // WEB \| UMass Lowell: PDF
MEDIA CENTER	FRIDAY: Radio (WEEI 850 AM) - P x P: Jon Rish // Color: Andy Powers
	SATURDAY: Television (Live on NESN) - P x P: Alex Faust // Color: Billy Jaffe \| Radio (WEEI 850 AM) - P x P: Jon Rish // Color: Andy Powers

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. UMASS LOWELL
The Eagles close out the regular season against UMass Lowell on Friday and Saturday as both programs will celebrate their seniors at their respective rinks. The River Hawks were the only team to escape the Eagles' clench last season. UML defeated BC, 5-2, to open the season last year before the Eagles and River Hawks skated to a 2-2 standoff on Feb. 20, 2015 at Kelley Rink. Prior to UMass Lowell's success against the Eagles last season, Boston College went 10-4-1 from 2010 to 2014. Since the dawn of Hockey East, BC has done 25-13-4 at Kelley Rink against UMass Lowell. Since taking over at BC, Coach York has amassed a 44-19-4 mark against the River Hawks. In all, Boston College is 63-36-9 and since Lowell head coach Norm Bazin's arrival, the Eagles are 6-3-3 in 11 meetings. BC and Lowell also had some history in the NCAA Tournament at the end of the 2013-14 season. On March 30, 2014, Boston College clipped Lowell, 4-3, in the NCAA quarterfinal round at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. A Boston College victory on Friday secures the No. 1 spot for the Eagles in the Hockey East playoffs while UMass Lowell is still fighting for a first-round bye and home ice in the conference tournament.

RIVER HAWK REPORT
Despite a strong 20-7-5 overall record and a 10-1-4 start to the season, UMass Lowell enters the Boston College series on an interesting note. The River Hawks were 0-2-1 with a tie against Northeastern and losses to New Hampshire and Boston University before responding with a win against the Terriers and a shaky 5-4 win at American International, currently ranked dead last in the Pairwise. UML responded with a 4-2 win against UMass. Sophomore C.J. Smith leads the River Hawks in points with 14 goals and 18 assists (32 points) while junior Joe Gambardella possesses the most assists with 23. Gambardella is tied for 20th, nationally, with 0.72 assists per game. Even though the River Hawk offense is ranked 14th overall and fifth in the conference averaging 3.16 goals per game, it's been the UML defense that has anchored the club this season. Led by senior netminder Kevin Boyle and his scant 1.87 goals allowed per game (sixth in the NCAA), the River Hawks are tied with North Dakota for the second-best defense in the nation, allowing only 1.84 goals per game. Boyle's save percentage is ninth best in college hockey, stopping pucks at a rate of .932 percent. Boyle is third in the nation with six shutouts. The Eagles are the league leaders in scoring margin (+2.19), but UML weighs in sixth in that category with a +1.31 margin. UMass Lowell's power play is 13th in college (20.9 percent) while the penalty kill ranks 18th at a rate of 84.7 percent. Lowell has the country's eighth best winning percentage with its 20-7-5 overall mark, skating into the BC series winning 70.3 percent of its contests.

OFFENSIVE NUGGETS
• The Eagles possess the nation's SECOND BEST scoring margin of +2.19 -- the Eagles have scored 130 goals this season and only surrendered 60 (4.06 goals for pg / 1.88 goals against pg)

• The Boston College offense is one of three units in the country to score four or more goals per game (4.06) and is the top-scoring offense in Hockey East - BU's is second (3.44 gpg)

• Austin Cangelosi has been on a recent tear, scoring a goal in his last four outings which marks a career best - he has accounted for seven points (3-4-7) in his last four games

• BC's power play unit has risen to a top-10 corps nationally -- the Eagles are scoring at a rate of 22.2 percent (30-of-135) and have scored 17 PPGs in their last 14 games since turn of 2016

• The North Reading, Mass. native has overtaken the Eagle lead in goals scored after a pair on Saturday in Burlington -- Fitzgerald is 14th, nationally, in points per game (1.23 ppg) and 17th in goals per game (0.58 gpg) -- as a whole, Fitzgerald's 18 tallies in a BC best so far

DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
• Boston College recorded its ninth shutout of the season to win the Beanpot on Feb. 8 - that is now a new school record, surpassing the old standard of eight set in 2005-06

• As a whole, BC's defensive unit ranks fourth nationally, yielding only 1.88 gpg (one of five teams under 2.00gpg) - BC has kept opponents off the board in 52-of-86 periods of play

• Boston College's penalty-killing unit has surrendered only four power play goal in the last 11 games as the Eagles rank fifth in the nation at 87.1 percent (121-of-139)

• When holding a lead heading into the third period, the Eagle defense has been on lockdown, posting a 19-0-2 record with the advantage after two frames

• Not only is Steve Santini a +21 on the season as a defenseman, but he has nearly doubled his assists totals from his freshman year -- Santini has logged 15 assists this season, including six assists in as many games recently

...AND NEW
Thatcher Demko surpassed Cory Schneider for the all-time single-season shutouts record holder, notching his ninth of the season against BU in the Beanpot on Feb. 8. Boston College, as a whole, has never shut out nine teams in a season.

STANDING TALL AMONGST THE BEST
Demko is currently third in the nation in both goals against average (1.75) and save percentage (.938) on the year and ranked first in overall shutouts with nine. For a career, the 6-foot-4 backstopper is 57-22-10 (.697) with a 2.06 goals against average and a .928 save percentage (2,359 saves on 2,543 shots).

SENIOR SCHWANN SONG
The senior class of Teddy Doherty, Travis Jeke, Peter McMullen and Brendan Silk will see their last game of the regular season as Eagles at Kelley Rink on Friday night. This group enters the UMass Lowell game with 94 victories, including one Hockey East regular season titles and three Beanpot trophies. These Eagles have never won less than 21 gams in a season.

BYE-BYE ... AND BYE AGAIN
Boston College has clinched a first-round bye in the new format of the Hockey East playoffs for the third-consecutive season. If the Eagles collect two more points in the home-and-home series against UMass Lowell, Boston College will have won its 14th Hockey East regular season title and second in three seasons.

WE'RE GOIN' STREAKING
Boston College possesses the nation's longest unbeaten streak at 14 games, not having lost since the turn of the calendar year, rattling off a 10-0-4 mark starting on Jan. 8. The longest unbeaten stretch under Coach York after the New Year was the 2013-14 team that went 13-0-2.

WORKIN' FOR THE WEEKEND
The Eagles have no lost a game on a weekend night (Friday / Saturday) this season, mounting a 17-0-5 marking, including an unblemished 12-0 mark on Friday nights.

20 / 20
With the Beanpot victory over BU on Feb. 8, Jerry York has now lead his program to a 20-win season (or more) in 17 of his 22 years behind the bench. This is the seventh-consecutive season the Eagles will have won at least 20 games and will be the 75th season in which Boston College has guaranteed more wins than losses.

BROTHERLY LOVE
Both Ryan and Casey Fitzgerald scored power play goals in the Feb. 13 contest at Merrimack and each assisted on one another's tallies. As a whole this season, each have assisted twice on one another's goals this year and have both scored at least one point in the game on 12 different occassions, including a combined two goals and three assists at Vermont on Feb. 20.

DEFENDING THE HEIGHTS TO NEW HEIGHTS
Boston College logged its ninth shutout of the season on Feb. 8, 2016 against Boston University, breaking the school record that was set in 2005-06 (8). All nine shutouts have been pitched by Thatcher Demko, who surpassed Cory Schneider's mark from the 05-06 season. No other team has posted nine shutouts in college hockey this season.

THE LEGEND CONTINUES...
Boston College coach Jerry York has reached the 1,000-win mark for his career in his 1,703rd game as a head coach. In all, York's record is 1,007-595-110 (.620) in 44 seasons at the head coach level and 540-260-76 (.659) in his 22nd season at the helm of Boston College. At the collegiate level, York is the 55th head coach to reach 1,000-career victories and the first to do so in college hockey. York remains the winningest coach in the history of the game. In his 1,000-career victories, Jerry York has defeated 69 different programs spread out through his tenures at Clarkson, Bowling Green and Boston College. York also won his ninth Beanpot trophy on Feb. 8, 2016, checking off another record in the Boston College annals.

WATCH OUT FOR WHITE
Colin White, who has registered 12 multi-point performances this season, is currently the 11th most prolific scorer in college hockey and the second-highest scoring freshman with an average of 1.30 point per game. The Hanover, Mass. native leads the Eagles with 39 points, notching 17 goals and 22 assists along the way. White tallied his second game-winning goal in power play fashion against Harvard in the Beanpot on Feb. 1.

FITZ IN A FLASH
Ryan Fitzgerald is sixth in the nation in shot attempts per game, triggering at a rate of 4.45 shots on net. The North Andover, Mass. native was the first Eagle to 10 goals and second on the team with 38 points (18-20-38) this season. Fitzgerald is 14th overall in scoring with 1.23 points per game. He recorded his second four-point performance of the season on Jan. 8.

SPECIAL TEAMS TALES
The Eagles' power play continues to pick up speed as the Eagles have scored 17 power play goals in theit last 14 outings. The extra man unit has risen from 38th to ninth in the country (30-for-135 - 22.2 %) while the penalty kill continues to assert its dominance over the country. BC is fifth in the nation, killing off 87.1 percent (121-for-139), including shutting out the third-ranked unit (Harvard) on Feb. 1 on the power play.

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUUUUL TIME, OF THE YEAR
As of Saturday, Boston College is ranked third in the Pairwise ranking with an RPI rating of .5908 , claiming the top spot in the poll with respect to Hockey East.

SHOW BIRDS
With the addition of former BC captain Michael Matheson to the Panthers on Feb. 19, the Eagles are now tied with Michigan for having the most alumni (20) in the NHL this season.

Regular-Season Title Up for Grabs against UMass Lowell

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Players Mentioned

Austin Cangelosi

Thatcher Demko

Teddy Doherty

Casey Fitzgerald

Ryan Fitzgerald

Travis Jeke

Michael Matheson

Peter McMullen

Steve Santini

Brendan Silk

Colin White