No. 3 Eagles Open 2016-17 Season at Minnesota Duluth

DID YOU KNOW ...
... that Boston College is the ONLY team in Division 1 women's hockey to finish the season with a Top-5 ranking in each of the last six years, from 2010-11 through 2015-16?

AGAINST MINNESOTA DULUTH

Overall: 4-5-0
Home: 3-3-0
Away: 1-1-0
Neutral: 0-1-0
NCAA: 0-1-0

SERIES NOTES vs. DULUTH

This weekend's meetings will be the 10th and 11th all-time meetings between the two programs
Minnesota Duluth holds a 5-4-0 edge in the all-time series
BC is 3-3-0 against UMD at home and 1-1-0 away ... the teams' first-ever meeting was on neutral ice in Lake Placid, N.Y. at the 2007 Frozen Four
The Bulldogs won the first four meetings before BC claimed its first win - in Duluth as part of a season-opening, two-game series - in October 2011
BC has now won four of the last five contests, including sweeps in the last two two-game sets (Oct. 2012, Oct. 2015)
This will be Boston College's third trip to Duluth, but the second time playing UMD ... the Eagles advanced to the 2012 Frozen Four, which was played at AMSOIL Arena

PLAYER NOTES vs. THE BULLDOGS

13 current Eagles have played against Minnesota Duluth, with all the action coming last season
Four players – Andie Anastos (2g), Megan Keller (1g, 1a), Kenzie Kent (2a), Makenna Newkirk (2a) – all have two points against Duluth
Newkirk recorded her first-career point last season against UMD, coming on an assist on Oct. 2
Three players – Kristyn Capizzano (1a), Toni Ann Miano (1a) and Tori Sullivan (1a) – all have one point against Duluth
Katie Burt started both games against the Bulldogs last year, going 2-0-0 with a .947 save percentage (54-of-57) and a 1.50 goals against average in 119:55 minutes

COACHES NOTES

Katie Crowley is 4-4-0 all-time against Minnesota Duluth, including wins in the last three meetings
The Eagles are 2-0-0 against UMD under their current head coach, Maura Crowell
Crowell coached against the Eagles for five seasons as an assistant coach, then interim head coach and associate head coach, at Harvard from 2010-11 through 2014-15 … BC went 6-2-1 against the Crimson during that time
Crowell was an assistant coach to BC's Caitrin Lonergan and Team USA at the 2016 IIHF Under-18 World Championships, where the team won the gold medal

THE EAGLES IN OPENERS

Boston College is 12-10 all-time in season openers
Under head coach Katie Crowley, the Eagles are 6-3 in their first games of the season, including wins in their last three season openers: 5-1 vs. Maine in 2013, 10-2 vs. Syracuse in 2014 and 4-1 vs. Minnesota Duluth in 2015

BULLDOGS A FAMILIAR OPENER

This season marks the third time Boston College and Minnesota Duluth will meet in the Eagles' season openers
In 2011-12, BC traveled to play the Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena on Oct. 8-9, splitting with the seventh-ranked hosts… UMD won the first game, 7-2, before fifth-ranked BC won the second, 3-2
Last season, the No. 3 Eagles hosted Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 2-3, this time sweeping the two-game series, 4-1 and 4-2

PRESEASON RANKINGS

The Eagles enter the 2016-17 season with Top-3 rankings in both polls
BC is ranked No. 3 in the preseason USCHO Preseason Poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
This marks the fourth-straight season BC has earned Top-3 rankings to start the season
This is the sixth-straight year BC has pulled a Top-5 ranking to start the year

CAPTAINS

A trio of Eagles are set to lead the team this year
Andie Anastos returns as captain this year, donning the C for the second-straight season … she is the sixth two-year captain in program history, and the first since 2006-07 and 2007-09 when Deb Spillane was captain in back-to-back seasons
Kristyn Capizzano and Megan Keller are the team's two assistant captains … these are the players' first leadership roles with the Eagles
Capizzano was most recently a captain of Canada's National Development Team (U22) this summer, while Keller was an assistant captain for the U.S.' U22 squad this past summer

ROSTER BREAKDOWN

BC returns 17 players from the record-breaking 2015-16 squad, and has added seven freshmen
The Eagles feature three seniors, seven juniors, seven sophomores and seven freshmen
Boston College's roster boasts three goaltenders, eight natural defensemen and 13 natural forwards
Twenty-three players are American, while the team has one Canadian
Ten players are from Massachusetts, four from Michigan, two from New York and one each from Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio and Vermont

RECORD-SETTING STREAKING

BC's current 52-game home undefeated streak is the NCAA record for D1 women's hockey
The Eagles' 46-game home winning streak is also the longest in NCAA history
The team's 16-game road winning streak is the second-longest in NCAA history behind Minnesota's 45 games won as the away team (January 2012 through October 2014)

STREAK'S STILL STRONG IN HOCKEY EAST

BC will open the 2016-17 season riding a 49-game undefeated streak in regular-season Hockey East play that dates back to the 2013-14 season
The Eagles' last loss in HEA play was Feb. 8, 2014, a 2-0 setback at Connecticut
Since that loss, BC is 48-0-1 in regular-season action, including league marks of 20-0-1 in 2014-15 and 24-0-0 in 2015-16
Since the start of the 2012-13 season, BC is 79-4-4 in the HEA regular season

NCAA-RECORD HOME STREAKS STRETCH ON

The Eagles are riding an NCAA-record 52-game home unbeaten run that dates back to Oct. 20, 2013
In this current stretch, BC has gone 51-0-1 and won the last 46 games played at Kelley Rink - also an NCAA record
BC's 52-game unbeaten streak and its 46-game home winning streak passed the prior record of 31 games (both undefeated and winning), set by Minnesota
The Eagles have out-scored their opponents 284-69 during the current unbeaten run, averaging 5.46 goals per game while allowing just 1.33 goals per game
The last time BC lost at Kelley Rink was Oct. 16, 2013, a 3-1 defeat to UNH

LAST ROAD LOSS A LONG TIME GONE

Almost a year and a half has passed since the Eagles' last loss in a true road game as BC as won its last 16 road games
BC's last road defeat was a 3-2 loss at No. 4 Harvard in the 2015 Beanpot championship game on Feb. 10, 2015
Since the start of the 2014-15 season, BC is 30-1-2 in away games

RECENT REGULAR-SEASON, NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS

Since 2012-13, Boston College has compiled a 30-7-4 regular-season record in non-conference games ... last year, BC went 10-0-0 vs. non-league opponents during the regular season
in 2014-15, BC went 9-1-1 during the regular season against non-Hockey East opponents, with the lone loss coming at No. 4 Harvard in the Beanpot championship
in 2013-14, the Eagles were 7-3-2 against non-HEA foes in the regular season, after an 8-3-1 mark in 2012-13

ANASTOS MAKING RUN FOR TOP-10

Andie Anastos opens her senior season with 102 career points and tied with Emily Pfalzer '15 for 12th on the Eagles' career scoring chart
She is 13 points back of 10th-place Laura Traynham '97, who finished her career with 125 points
Anastos was the 13th player in program history to break the 100-point plateau

KELLER KILLING THE BLUE LINE

Megan Keller returns for her junior season one year after being the youngest player last year to earn ACHA first-team All-America honors
The reigning Hockey East Best Defender was the nation's leading scorer among all blue liners, recording 52 points in 41 games
That was the highest season point total by a defenseman in program history – besting Emily Pfalzer's 42 points in 2014-15
Her 40 assists ranked third nationally last year – behind teammates Alex Carpenter (45) and Haley Skarupa (44) – and set a program record for assists by a sophomore
Defensively, she anchored the Eagles' unit that ranked third nationally allowing 1.24 goals per game with a program-record 14 shutouts … the Eagles also ranked third nationally on the PK, killing 91.6 percent of opponents' chances

PUSH FOR 100 (PTS.)

As the season opens, three different Eagles are making a push for 100 career points after having passed 75 points last season
Kenzie Kent enters the year with 81 points, while Kristyn Capizzano has 78 and Megan Keller 76

KENZIE'S KRAZY SCHEDULE

Kenzie Kent headed to national team camp this summer, but with USA Lacrosse
The Eagles' two-sport star was an All-ACC and IWLCA All-Northeast Region honoree – while only playing in 10 of the lacrosse team's 19 games
She tallied 18 goals and added 17 assists for 35 points while helping lead the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament
Kent played all 41 hockey games last season, finishing the year on March 20 in the National Championship game. On March 26, she suited up for the lacrosse team against North Carolina at home and played the rest of the season

NEWKIRK'S NOT THE NEW KID ANYMORE

Makenna Newkirk splashed on to the college scene as a freshman, recording 49 points while playing in all 41 games
She finished second nationally to Minnesota's Sarah Potomak in both freshman scoring and the AHCA Freshman of the Year voting
Newkirk's 49 points was the third-highest total by a freshman in program history, trailing Kelli Stack's 53 in 2006-07 and Haley Skarupa's 53 in 2012-13
Her year-one production was enough to gain her notice by USA Hockey as she made her debut in U.S. camp this summer at the U.S. Women's National Festival in August

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 of her collegiate seasons
Burt has never lost a game in regular-season conference play, but was a second-team honoree as a freshman and honorable mention last year
She is now 36-0-1 in league play with a career GAA of 0.91 with a .952 save percentage and 16 conference shutouts
She has backed Hockey East's top defense the last two years
She led the conference in GAA, wins, save percentage and shutouts in both of her collegiate seasons

BURT IMPACING NCAA CAREER MARKS ALREADY

Katie Burt enters her junior year already ranked in the NCAA career goaltender records
She is tied for 19th in career wins (65) – 15 wins back of the top 10 (BC's own Molly Schaus '11 with 80)
Additionally, she is ranked 12th on the career shutouts list with 23, just two back of the top 10 (25 by two players)
Three records she is not ranked in – because they are only determined once a player is done playing – are career winning percentage, GAA and save percentage
Burt's .930 career winning percentage (65-4-2) would be the NCAA record if her career ended today (current record: .897 by Minnesota's Amanda Leveille '16)
Also, her career 1.17 GAA would rank second in NCAA history and her .942 career save percentage would rank fourth in NCAA history.

HOCKEY EAST PROGNOSTICATIONS

Boston College was picked to win the Hockey East title again this season according to the conference's preseason coaches' poll
It marked the second straight year the Eagles were looked to repeat as regular-season winners
The Eagles received six of the eight available votes to them, with BU coming in second and Northeastern ranking third

HOCKEY EAST SUCCESS OVERALL

Hockey East is celebrating its 15th season as a women's league
BC is 176-85-28 all-time in league play (.657) ... the Eagles have won three regular-season crowns (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16) and two tournament titles (2011, 2016)

THIS IS THE 23RD SEASON

Boston College is in its 23nd season with women's hockey at the varsity level
The program elevated from club to Division 1 status ahead of the 1994-95 season
All-time Record: 364-311-68 (.536)
Since HEA Formed: 292-154-55 (.638)

INTERNATIONAL ESCAPADES

A total of seven current Eagles - and 14 overall - were active with the U.S. or Canadian National Teams this summer
Grace Bizal, Katie Burt, Kali Flanagan, Megan Keller, Caitrin Lonergan and Makenna Newkirk were all participants at the annual USA Hockey Women's National Festival with all but Bizal selected for the U.S. Under-22 Select Team
Kristyn Capizzano was called in for Canada's Women's National Development Team camp, and went to serve as the team's captain for the U.S. series in August
Additionally, alums Lexi Bender '16, Alex Carpenter '16, Emily Pfalzer '15, Haley Skarupa '16, Kelli Stack '11, Allie Thunstrom '10 and Dana Trivigno '16 also participated in the U.S. Women's National Team Festival, but were not eligible for the U.S. U22 team
Earlier in the summer, Capizzano headed north for Canada's strength and conditioning camp, while Burt also featured in USA Hockey's Goaltenders Camp.
Burt was also part of the contingent of Eagles who were called in for USA Hockey's off-ice camp in June, joining Keller, Carpenter, Pfalzer, Skarupa, Stack, Thunstrom and Trivigno

EAGLES IN THE PROS
Currently, there are 10 Eagles alums playing professionally in the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL):

Lexi Bender '16 – Boston Pride
Blake Bolden '13 – Boston Pride (2015-16 All-Star)
Alex Carpenter '16 – Boston Pride
Emily Field '15 – Boston Pride (2015-16 All-Star)
Kaliya Johnson '16 – Connecticut Whale
Meagan Mangene '14 – Connecticut Whale
Emily Pfalzer '15 – Buffalo Beauts (2015-16 All-Star)
Haley Skarupa '16 – Connecticut Whale
Kelli Stack '11 – Connecticut Whale (2015-16 All-Star)
Dana Trivigno '16 – Connecticut Whale

FUTURE PRO?

Andie Anastos is the only Eagle who was drafted by a NWHL team this summer
The Eagles' captain was selected seventh overall by the Connecticut Whale
She is the fifth BC player to be drafted by the second-year league

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Andie Anastos

Lexi Bender

Grace Bizal

Katie Burt

Kristyn Capizzano

Alex Carpenter

Kali Flanagan

Kaliya Johnson

Megan Keller

Kenzie Kent

Caitrin Lonergan

Toni Ann Miano

Makenna Newkirk

Haley Skarupa

Dana Trivigno