NCAA Preview: Eagles Host Northeastern with Frozen Four Berth On the Line

2016 NCAA TOURNAMENT | Quarterfinals
No. 1 Boston College (38-0-0) vs. No. 6 Northeastern (28-8-1)
Saturday, March 12, 2016 | 1 p.m.
Kelley Rink at Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Mass.

WEEKEND HEADLINES

Boston College's senior class is the third-straight BC class to advance to four NCAA Tournaments, joining the Classes of 2014 and 2015
Alex Carpenter (41-41-82) and Haley Skarupa (32-41-73) are ranked No. 2 and 3 nationally in points ... the linemates also share the national lead in assists
Alex Carpenter has established a new BC single-season goals record with 41 so far this season ... she surpassed the school's 20-year old record (39) set by Erin Magee '99 in 1995-96.
Megan Keller - the 2016 Hockey East Best Defenseman - is the nation's leading scorer among defenseman with 48 points (12-36-48) ... her 16 power-play assists and 20 power-play points (4-16-20) are both second nationally behind Carpenter (9-18-27)
Alex Carpenter is now fifth on the NCAA career scoring list with 272 points, while Haley Skarupa is tied for 13th with 238 points
Makenna Newkirk has 24 points (8g, 16a) in 14 games since Jan. 22 ... she leads all freshmen nationally with 21 goals and, with 48 points, is one points back of the national lead in freshman scoring
Dana Trivigno has 27 points in 18 games in 2016 and now has a career-high 47 points ... her previous best was 34 points as a junior in 2014-15

TOURNAMENT TESTED
Boston College is entering its eighth NCAA Tournament in program history, including its sixth-straight tournament ... BC is 5-7 overall in NCAA Tournament play, including a 5-2 record in Quarterfinal round play ... the Eagles' senior class is the third class in BC history - and third straight - at advance to the NCAA Tournament in all four of its seasons at The Heights, joining the Classes of 2014 and 2015.

QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UP INFO
Saturday's match features the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament - the host Boston College Eagles - vs. cross-town rival and Hockey East foe Northeastern ... BC enters the game ranked No. 1 in the country, while Northeastern is ranked No. 6 but unseeded in the tournament ... this is the teams' first-ever meeting in the NCAA Tournament, but not their first postseason meeting ... the programs have met twice in the Hockey East Tournament, with the teams splitting the meetings.

Boston College		Northeastern
38-0-0	Record	28-8-1
8	NCAA Tournament Appearances	1
24-0-0	Conference Record	20-4-0
First	Conference Finish	Second
204	Goals	162
5.37	Goals Per Game	4.38
45	Goals Allowed	89
1.18	Goals Allowed Per Game	2.41
1666	Shots	1361
.122	Shot Percentage	.119
43.8	Shots Per Game	36.8
45	Power-Play Goals	27
33.1	Power-Play Pct.	21.2
111-121	Penalty Kill	117-139
91.7	Penalty-Kill Pct.	84.2
6	Shorthanded Goals	7
136 (3.6)	Penalties (P/GP)	167 (4.5)
278 (7.3)	Penalty Minutes (PIM/GP)	348 (9.4)

BC AGAINST NORTHEASTERN

Saturday's game will be the fifth meeting between the schools this season and the first in NCAA Tournament play
BC has won all four of the season's previous meetings:
- BC won 4-2 at Kelley Rink on Nov. 20
- BC claimed a 6-1 win at Matthews Arena on Nov. 28
- BC earned a 7-0 win in the Beanpot final on Feb. 9
- BC won 5-3 at Kelley Rink on Feb. 12
Boston College is 36-34-6 all-time against Northeastern since elevating to Division I status for the 1995-95 season
BC is 15-15-4 in meetings at Kelley Rink, and 16-17-1 in games played at Matthews Arena ... the teams have met eight times on neutral ice, with BC leading 5-2-1 in those games
Northeastern went 22-0-2 in the teams' first 24 meetings once BC became a D1 program ... the Eagles won their first-ever game against the Huskies on Feb. 4, 2003
Since the launch of Hockey East in 2002-03, BC is 36-12-4 overall against Northeastern ... all of the Eagles' wins against NU have come in the HEA era
BC has won the last 10 matches between the teams ... the Eagles are also undefeated in their last 10 home games (8-0-2) against NU
BC and Northeastern have met in tournaments 14 times between the Beanpot and Hockey East Tournament
- BC is 7-4-1 against the Huskies in the Beanpot and 1-1-0 in the HEA Tournament
- The teams have met twice in the Hockey East Tournament, with the Eagles claiming the title in 2011 with a championship-game win over Northeastern .... in 2013, NU topped BC in the semifinals
Head coach Katie Crowley has a 27-5-3 career mark against the Huskies

EAGLES VS. THE HUSKIES

Alex Carpenter is the Eagles' active leading scorer against Northeastern with 24 points (9g, 15a) in 16 career games ... she is 2-5-7 this season in four games ... Carpenter holds the Eagles' career assists lead vs. NU
Haley Skarupa has 22 points (9g, 13a) in 16 games, going 2-3-5 this season so far
Five other current Eagles have 10 or more career points against Northeastern:
- Dana Trivigno: 10-6-16 in 15 games
- Andie Anastos: 3-9-12 in 12 games
- Lexi Bender: 0-12-12 in 17 games
- Megan Keller: 3-8-11 in 7 games
- Kristyn Capizzano: 4-6-10 in 12 games
Trivigno is ranked second in career goals against Northeastern behind Kelli Stack '11 who had 11 ... her 10 goals include a hat trick in the Beanpot final this year
Makenna Newkirk has tallied 6 points (3-3-6) in 4 games vs. Northeastern, including a three-point outing in the Beanpot final and a two-goal, one-assist game on Feb. 12
Tori Sullivan (3-4-7 in 8 games) picked up a three-point night in the teams' first meeting this season (Nov. 20)
Kenzie Kent (5-4-9 in 8 games, including two goals on Nov. 28, one in the Beanpot final and one on Feb. 12) and Meghan Grieves (3-1-4) have also found the back of the net against Northeastern, while Haley McLean (0-1-1) has an assist
On defense, Kaliya Johnson (2-6-8 in 17 games, including the Nov. 20 game-winning goal and two assists in the Beanpot final), Kali Flanagan (2-3-5 in 8 games) and Toni Ann Miano (0-5-5 in 8 games) have all gotten involved in the offense
Katie Burt is 6-0-0 with a 1.34 goals against average and a .950 save percentage ... she also has one shutout vs. the Huskies

SEARCHING FOR A STAR
Boston College is on the hunt for its first NCAA title in the program's history ... should the Eagles win, it would the first women's team NCAA championship in BC history ... a NCAA title would also give Boston College its sixth hockey NCAA championship, as the men's team has five (1949, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2012) which are signified by stars on the back of their jerseys.

HOCKEY EAST'S NCAA FLAG BEARER
The Eagles lead all Hockey East programs in NCAA appearances (8), as well as Frozen Four appearances (5) ... BC has advanced to the last six NCAA Championships, the conference's longest current streak of NCAA appearances and tied for the league's longest run overall (BU, 2010-2015) ... the Eagles' five wins in NCAA Championship play are also the most in Hockey East history ... no Hockey East team has ever won the NCAA Tournament, with only BU advancing to the title game twice (2011, 2013).

BC HISTORY MADE WITH TOP SEED
The women's hockey team is the first Boston College women's athletic team to earn the No. 1 overall seed in an NCAA Tournament ... the previous best was also the hockey team, earning the No. 2 overall seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

CARPENTER COULD BE THE FIRST FOUR-TIMER
If the Eagles advance to the Frozen Four with a victory on Saturday, Alex Carpenter would be the first player in program history to play in four Frozen Fours in her career ... the seniors in the Classes of 2014 and 2015 each played in three Frozen Fours ... Carpenter matriculated at Boston College in September 2011 and went to the Frozen Four in 2012 and 2013, but took the 2013-14 school year off to train and play with Team USA at the Sochi Olympics ... the Eagles lost in the NCAA Quarterfinals that season to eventual national champion Clarkson, but the team returned to the Frozen Four last year, Carpenter's junior season.

A SECOND PERFECT TEAM?
Boston College finished the regular season with a perfect 34-0-0 mark and are now 38-0-0 as they enter the NCAA Tournament ... the Eagles are just the second team in the NCAA era to reach the NCAA Tournament with an unblemished record, joining the 2012-13 Minnesota team that went on to win the NCAA Championship with a 41-0-0 mark.

NEW CAREER APPEARANCES LEADER
Lexi Bender became the Eagles' career appearances leader this past weekend, playing in her 150th and 151st career games ... she passed Emily Field '15 and Kate Leary '15, who each played in 149 games in their four seasons at The Heights ... in addition to Bender, Meghan Grieves is now second with 150 appearances ... Alex Carpenter has 147 appearances, while Dana Trivigno has 145 ... the Eagles have at least one game left in the season and as many as three.

STOPPERS AND SHUTOUTS RECORDS SET THIS YEAR

This season, Boston College has recorded a program-record 14 shutouts, passing the previous mark of 12 set in 2014-15
Katie Burt has 13 shutouts in 33 starts, while Gabri Switaj has one in five starts
Burt's 13 shutouts represent the program's single-season record, which was previously 10 held by Molly Schaus '11 (2008-09) and Burt (2014-15)
Coincidently, Burt and BC men's hockey goaltender Thatcher Demko (9) both set their respective programs' single-season shutout records on back-to-back nights by posting shutouts in their Beanpot Championship games on Feb. 8 and 9

OFFENSE CRACKING NCAA RECORD BOOKS
Boston College has scored 204 goals this season, the sixth-highest single-season total in NCAA history ... BC is just three back of tying for fifth place with the 2009 Wisconsin team that scored 207 goals ... Minnesota Duluth set the NCAA record with 226 in 2003, while Harvard is second with 220 that same year.

EAGLES MAKING A POINT IN THE NCAA RECORD BOOK
In addition to cracking the Top-5 in single-season goals, BC is now also No. 2 on the single-season points legend ... BC has tallied 566 points this season from 204 goals and 362 assists ... that total is tied for second in NCAA history behind Minnesota Duluth's 579 in 2003 ... BC's 266 points matches Minnesota's 2013 total when they scored 216 goals and had 250 assists.

EAGLES ARE THE MOST HELPFUL TEAM IN NCAA HISTORY
One NCAA record the Eagles have already set is the season assist record ... BC already has 362 assists this season, establishing a new single-season NCAA mark ... they passed Minnesota Duluth's 2003 total of 253 in the Hockey East Championship game.

IT'S A WHITEOUT THE REST OF THE WAY (OR GOLD RUSH)
As the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, BC will be the home team for all of its remaining games this season ... as such, BC will don its traditional white home uniforms in each of its games ... however, where the Eagles' third uniforms are also light-colored - BC gold - they could wear those in later games if they advance through the NCAA bracket.

DEJA VU TO 2015 ... SORT OF
Boston College is sitting atop the polls entering the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year ... last year, BC was the No. 1 ranked team in the country, but took the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament as Minnesota claimed the No. 1 seed ... this year, BC enters the NCAA Tournament as both the No. 1-ranked team and the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

ALREADY MATCHING SECOND IN NCAA HISTORY IN WINS
Boston College's 38 wins are tied for second-most in a single season in NCAA history, matching Minnesota's 38 wins in 2014 ... Minnesota's 41 wins - as part of a 41-0-0 season in 2012-13 - are the NCAA record.

NEAR-RECORD WINNING PERCENTAGE GUARANTEED
Boston College is guaranteed to finish the season with at least the second-best season winning percentage in NCAA history ... the lowest winning percentage BC can finish with is .974, which would trail only Minnesota's 1.000 mark in 2012-13 ... to hit that mark, the Eagles would have to lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday ... currently, the second-highest winning percentage in NCAA history is .942, posted by Harvard in 2008 with a 32-2-0 record.

Record Scenario Final Winning Pct.
38-1-0 Lose NCAA quarters .974
39-1-0 Lose NCAA semis .975
40-1-0 Lose NCAA final .976
41-0-0 Win NCAA champ. 1.000

ALEX AIMING FOR MORE GOALS
Alex Carpenter's two goals on Sunday in the Hockey East Championship game pushed her season total to 41 ... that represents a new program record for a season, passing Erin Magee '99 who potted 39 as a freshman in 1995-96 ... Carpenter now holds the two of the three highest single-season goal marks in program history, also notching 37 last year in 2014-15 for the third-highest mark.

WHAT'S A GOALIE TO DO TO GET SOME RESPECT?
Katie Burt is Hockey East's back-to-back Goaltending Champion, but has yet to be voted to the conference's All-Star First Team in either season ... she was a second-team honoree as a freshman and took honorable mention accolades this year ... however:

She has not lost a game in regular-season Hockey East play since arriving at BC
She is now 36-0-1 in league play with a career goals against average of 0.91 with a .952 save percentage and 16 conference shutouts
She has backed Hockey East's top defense the last two years and led the conference in GAA, wins, save percentage and shutouts in both of her collegiate seasons

KELLER BRUISING FROM THE BLUELINE
Megan Keller has been a rock at the blue line this season, anchoring the Eagles' back line ... defensively, she's helped steady the Eagles defense that has allowed 1.18 goals per game - third-best in the country - and held opponents to one or fewer goals in 24 of 38 games with a school-record 14 shutouts ... offensively, she's collected 48 points (12g, 36a), tied for third on the team and tops nationally among all defensemen ... also, she's a 61 on the season, the best mark on the team, the best mark among all defensemen in the country and the second-best overall mark in the country.

KELLER KICKING DOWN D SCORING RECORDS
Megan Keller's jump from her freshman to sophomore year has been amazing for the Eagles ... as a freshman, she helped BC to its best-ever record at 34-3-2 while recording 24 points (4g, 20a) in 37 games and making her debut with the U.S. Women's National Team ... however, as a sophomore, Keller has dominated along the blueline - both offensively and defensively ... BC is now a perfect 38-0-0 on the year, allowing just 1.18 goals per game and set a new program season shutout record (14).

Personally, Keller:

Has posted 48 points (12g, 36a) to lead all defenders nationally ... her 36 assists are fifth-most nationally among all players, not just defensemen
Passed Emily Pfalzer's prior school-record of 42 points by a defenseman in a season, which she set in 2014-15 as she led the nation in DMan scoring
Has surpassed Pfalzer's school record for assists by a defenseman (34) in a season, which she also set last year
Set the Hockey East defenseman records for points in a conference season (29) and assists in a conference season (24)
Has scored the second-most goals by a BC defenseman in a season in school history (17, Genevieve Missirlian 1997-98)
Is fifth on the BC defenseman career scoring chart (72 points on 16 goals and 56 assists) after just 74 games ... her 16 goals are ranked fifth among all Eagle defensemen and her 56 assists are tied for fourth
Reached 50 career assists in just 70 games, fastest among any defenseman in program history

NEWKIRK'S THE NEW KID
Makenna Newkirk has adjusted well to the college game:

Newkirk has recorded 48 points - tied for third on the team - with 21 goals and 27 assists
She's second in the nation in rookie points - one point back of leader Sarah Potomak (49 points) of Minnesota
She's also second in rookie points per game (1.27)
Among all players, she's tied for 12h nationally among all players in points
Newkirk's 21 goals are third on the team, tied for 12th nationally and lead all freshmen nationally
Since joining Dana Trivigno and Andie Anastos' line on Jan. 19 - a span of 15 games - Newkirk has collected 24 points from eight goals and 16 assists
She has recorded the third-highest freshman point total in BC history behind Kelli Stack '11 (57) and Haley Skarupa '16 (53)

TRIVIGNO CLAWING AT CAREER TOP 5
Dana Trivigno became the latest Eagle to join the program's top 10 scoring chart and is quickly ascending up the ranks with 27 points in 18 games since Jan. 1 ... she is tied for sixth in career scoring at The Heights with 138 points, matching Emily Field '15 ... Trivigno is now two points back of cracking the top 5, as Allie Thunstrom '10 is currently fifth with 140 points ... Trivigno was the 12th player in BC history to reach the 100-point plateau, and she is also the third player of the Class of '16 to reach 100 points.

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Players Mentioned

Andie Anastos

Lexi Bender

Katie Burt

Kristyn Capizzano

Alex Carpenter

Emily Field

Kali Flanagan

Meghan Grieves

Kaliya Johnson

Megan Keller

Kenzie Kent

Kate Leary

Haley McLean

Toni Ann Miano

Makenna Newkirk

Emily Pfalzer

Haley Skarupa

Tori Sullivan

Gabri Switaj

Dana Trivigno