Tournament First-Timer Merrimack Awaits in Hockey East Quarters

2017 HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinal Round | Best-of-three series

No. 1 seed Boston College (23-5-5, 17-4-3 HEA) vs. No. 8 seed Merrimack (11-20-3, 7-17-0 HEA)
Kelley Rink at Conte Forum | Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Game 1: Thursday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m.

Tickets will be available at the door to all games

Adults: $10
Children 12 and under, seniors, groups: $5
Students from a Hockey East school: free with school ID

TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE

Boston College is playing in its 12th Hockey East Tournament this year
The Eagles' 12 appearances are tied for third most in league history, behind Providence (15) and New Hampshire (14)
BC has won two championships (2011, 2016) and advanced to the last three championship games

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Boston College is 14-9 all-time in the Hockey East Tournament, advancing to the championship game six times (2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016) and winning twice (2011, 2016)
BC is 6-1 in the quarterfinal round, 6-4 in the semifinals and 2-4 in the championship game
2010 was the lone season in which the Eagles failed to advance to at least the semifinal round

HISTORY AS TOP SEED

This is the fourth-straight year in which Boston College is the No. 1 seed in the Hockey East Tournament
BC has a 9-2 record in the tournament as the No. 1 seed, falling in the 2014 and 2015 championship games to Boston University ... as the No. 1 seed, BC is 5-0 in the quarterfinals, 3-0 in the semifinals and 1-2 in the championship game
BC is 5-5 as the No. 2 seed (winning its 2011 title as the second seed), and has 0-1 marks as the Nos. 4 and 6 seeds

SEARCHING FOR TITLE NO. 3

Boston College is in search of its third Hockey East Tournament title
BC broke a five-year drought last year with a 5-0 win in the championship game over No. 3 seed BU
The Eagles won their first HEA tournament championship in 2011 when they defeated fifth-seeded Northeastern, 3-1

2-FOR-2 THIS TROPHY SEASON

Boston College has already claimed its first two trophies of "Trophy Season"
The Eagles won the 2016-17 Hockey East regular-season title outright on Feb. 3 ... it was BC's fourth-straight regular-season crown
On Feb. 7, BC claimed its seventh Beanpot title with a 2-1 win over Northeastern at Matthews Arena
The next trophy up for grabs will be the 2017 Hockey East Tournament title ... BC begins its title defense this week

PWR WATCHING

The Eagles will be trying to maximize their impact on the PairWise Rankings in the Hockey East Tournament as potential hosting rights in the NCAA Tournament are up for grabs in a very close race
BC enters the postseason sitting at No. 6, with teams No. 2 through 6 jam-packed: No. 2 Clarkson, No. 3 Minnesota Duluth, No. 4 St. Lawrence and No. 5 Minnesota
In the RPI Ratings - a component of the PairWise Ratings - 17 one-thousandths of a point separate teams Nos. 2 (.6144) through 6 (.5973)
The NCAA will deal automatic berths to the NCAA Tournament to the nation's four conference tournament winners: College Hockey America, ECAC, Hockey East and WCHA ... the other four spots in the bracket will go to the highest-rated at-large teams in the PWR

AGAINST MERRIMACK

Overall: 6-0-0
Home: 3-0-0
Away: 3-0-0
Neutral: 0-0-0
HEA Tournament: 0-0-0
Series Notes
- This weekend's series marks not only the teams' first-ever meeting in the Hockey East Tournament, but Merrimack's first-ever postseason berth
- BC and Merrimack played the three-game regular-season series in a 13-day span in January ... BC swept the regular-season series, 3-0 ... BC claimed a 1-0 win at Kelley Rink on Jan. 13 before taking a 3-1 win at Lawler Rink on Jan. 14 ... in the third game, the Eagles took a 4-1 win at home
- BC is 6-0-0 all-time against Merrimack, which is in its second year of Division I play after entering the league in 2015-16
- BC is 3-0-0 at Kelley Rink and 3-0-0 in North Andover, Mass.
- In six games, BC has shut out the Warriors three times ... last season, BC posted back-to-back shutouts of the Warriors to open the series, winning 2-0 at Merrimack on Jan. 15 and 6-0 in Chestnut Hill on Jan. 16 ... on Jan. 13 of this year, BC claimed the one-goal win
- In six meetings, BC has averaged 43.7 shots per game while holding Merrimack to an average of 15.8 per game
- Merrimack has averaged just 0.50 goals against per game against the Eagles
Player Notes
- Makenna Newkirk (4-4-8) is the Eagles' career scoring leader against Merrimack ... she posted four points in each of her first two seasons against the Warriors, including one goal and three assists this season ... Newkirk has picked up points in five of the teams' six meetings overall
- Andie Anastos (3g, 3a=6pts) has scored one goal in each meeting this season ... she netted the game-winning goal on Jan. 13 in the 1-0 win and tallied one goal and one assist on Jan. 14 in the 3-1 win ... she then added a shorthanded goal on Jan. 25 ... last year, she had assists in each of the two games at Lawler Rink
- Megan Keller (2-5-7) had three points (1g, 2a) in the team's Jan. 25 meeting ... last year, she recorded a point in all three games ... her goal in the teams' first-ever meeting was the insurance tally in the 2-0 win at Merrimack ... after she picked up an assist the next day at Kelley Rink, she added two assists in the return game at Lawler Rink on Jan. 26, 2016
- Kenzie Kent (2g, 2a) had a goal in the Jan. 14 meeting (a shorthanded tally) and picked up one point in each meeting against the Warriors last year: an assist each on Jan. 15 and 16 and her first-ever goal against the Warriors on Jan. 26
- Delaney Belinskas collected three assists in the first two meetings between the teams this season: one on Jan. 13 and two at Lawler Rink on Jan. 14
- Kristyn Capizzano posted a two-point outing on Jan. 25 (SHG and an assist) ... last year, she had points in back-to-back games against Merrimack, recording an assist at home on Jan. 16, before scoring a goal at Lawler Rink on Jan. 26
- Katie Burt has made five starts against Merrimack - including all three games this season ... she is 5-0-0 with an 0.60 GAA and .966 save percentage ... she is 3-0-0 at Lawler Rink and 2-0-0 at Kelley Rink
- Gabri Switaj recorded her first career shutout in her start against Merrimack at Kelley Rink on Jan. 16, 2016 ... she made eight saves in the win
Coaching Notes
- Katie Crowley is 6-0-0 all-time against Merrimack

EAGLES' SPREAD OFFENSE

BC's offense is one of the nation's most varied ... entering the weekend, the Eagles claims 11 players who have recorded at least 10 points ... that's tied for the third-highest total in the country behind Wisconsin (15) and Clarkson, Northeastern and Boston University who have 12 each
There are seven Eagles who've collected 20 or more points, which is tied for the nation's second-most behind Colgate's 8
BC also has five players who have scored at least 10 goals, a figure that's tied for second nationally behind Boston University's six 10-goal scorers
The nine Eagles with 10 or more assists ranks third nationally, behind Wisconsin's 12 and Providence's 11
Additionally, BC has four players who have collected at least 10 goals and 10 assists, a figure that's tied for third-most nationally behind BU (6) and Colgate (5)

KELLER SITTING ATOP NATIONAL DMAN STATS ... AGAIN

U.S. National Team member - and junior blue liner - Megan Keller is again sitting atop the national defenseman scoring charts
Her 31 points, 1.07 points per game and 0.83 assists per game marks lead all defensemen nationally
Keller has 31 points in 29 games from seven goals and 24 assists ... her 24 assists are the most nationally among defensemen and are tied for 11th nationally among all skaters
Keller missed four games in October and November while helping the U.S. win the gold medal at the Four Nations Cup ... despite that fact, her 31 points still lead Clarkson's Savannah Harmon's 30 points in 34 games
In 2015-16, Keller led all defenseman nationally in points (52), assists per game (0.98) and points per game (1.27) in 41 games ... last year's offense averaged almost two more goals per game than the 2016-17 team: 5.20 gpg to 3.42 gpg

KELLER POSITIONS HERSELF AS PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE

While Megan Keller has been the nation's most impactful defenseman the last two seasons, this year she's made a case for player of the year honors
On the offensive end of the ice, Keller's 1.07 points per game overall ranks 26th nationally and she's the only defenseman in the top 35
She's the only defenseman in the nation averaging 1.00 point per game (or better)
Her 0.83 assists per game are tied for ninth nationally among all skaters
In league play, her 1.35 points per game was the second-best mark among all skaters - and is an increase from her 1.21 ppg average last year
She finished sixth overall in Hockey East scoring with 27 points, and she is the only defenseman in the top 20
Her 21 assists in league play led all Hockey East players and she was the only player in the conference to average more than 1.00 assists per game
Keller led Hockey East in plus/minus (+25), six points higher than the next non-teammate and 10 points better than the next closest defenseman
Defensively, BC ranks fifth nationally, allowing 1.69 goals allowed per game
The Eagles surrender just 22.79 shots per game, sixth least in the nation
In special teams - where Keller anchors both units - the Eagles also lead the nation in both power play (26.6 percent) and penalty kill (92.5 percent) ... BC also topped both charts in league play

TRIO HITS CENTURY MARK, JOINS ELITE CLUB

On Sunday, Feb. 19, Kristyn Capizzano became the third Eagle this season to reach the 100-point mark
Capizzano joined Megan Keller (Feb. 3) and Kenzie Kent (Feb. 12) as team members who reached 100 points this year
They are the 14th, 15th and 16th players to reach the 100-point plateau in their BC careers
In the first 18 years of the program's existence (1994-95 through 2011-12), seven players reached the 100-point mark: Erin Magee '99, Laura Traynham '97, Jennifer Buckley '01, Kelli Stack '11, Deb Spillane '08, Allie Thunstrom '10, Mary Restuccia '12
However, in the last five years (2012-13 to present), nine players have reached the 100-point mark: Alex Carpenter '16, Emily Field '15, Haley Skarupa '16, Emily Pfalzer '15, Dana Trivigno '16, Andie Anastos' 17, Megan Keller '18, Kenzie Kent '18 and Kristyn Capizzano '17

FABULOUS FRESHMEN, PART I

Boston College has two of the three freshman nationally who have each scored at least 30 points this season: Caitrin Lonergan (31) and Delaney Belinskas (31)
There are nine freshmen nationally who have reached the 25-point mark
BC is one of eight programs in the country with a 25-point (or more) freshman scorer
Additionally, the Eagles are the only team nationally that has TWO freshmen who have both scored at least 25 points
Of the nine freshmen 25-point scorers, five are from Hockey East, two from the ECAC and one each from the CHA and WHCA

FABULOUS FRESHMEN, PART II

With Caitrin Lonergan and Delaney Belinskas both passing the 30-point mark this season, they became the first pair of BC rookies to both reach at least 30 points since the 2011-12 season when Alex Carpenter (39) and Emily Field (32) both passed 30 points
This is the sixth straight season BC has had at least one freshman reach 30 points in her first season of collegiate play

LONERGAN MAKING HER CASE

Freshman forward Caitrin Lonergan has already shown why she's among the frontrunners for ACHA National Freshman of the Year despite battling injuries midway through the year
She started the season hot and won the first two Hockey East Rookie of the Month awards (October and November), picking up 21 points in 16 games
She picked up an injury on Nov. 12, and continued to dress and play the next three games before being shut down for the rest of the semester
She returned to the ice at BU on Jan. 7 after missing two-and-a-half games (spanning a full month)
Now fully healthy, she has nine points (5g, 4a) in the Eagles' last 10 games, pushing her point total to 31 in 31 games from 14 goals and 17 assists
Before she missed the time with injury, Lonergan was the only freshman in the nation to rank in the overall top 25 in every major offensive category: points, goals, assists, power-play goals and shorthanded goals
On a per-game basis, Lonergan is tied for second nationally in freshman points per game, averaging 1.00 ... she is fifth in freshman goals per game (0.45) and fourth in assists per game (0.55)
Lonergan's 31 points are tied for second nationally among freshmen, her 17 assists are sixth among first-year players and her 14 goals are tied for fifth among first-years
She is also a three-time Hockey East Rookie of the Week

WILL THIS BE THE YEAR FOR BURT?

Katie Burt is Hockey East's back-to-back 2015 and 2016 Goaltending Champion and has already started setting some of the conference's career records, but she has yet to be voted to the conference's All-Star First Team in either of her collegiate seasons
She was a Hockey East All-Star second-team honoree as a freshman and honorable mention last year
She is now 51-4-4 in league play with a career GAA of 1.17 with a .942 save percentage and a league-record 20 conference shutouts
Burt's 51 conference wins are just two one of the league's record of 52, held by Melissa Bourdon, UNH '07
She has backed Hockey East's top defense the last three years and led the conference in GAA, wins and shutouts in all three of her collegiate seasons

BURT WILL HAVE HEA WINS RECORD IN SIGHT NEXT YEAR

Katie Burt is moving up a host of goaltender career wins charts as she enters the postseason with 86 career wins and the BC career wins mark already in hand
Burt is now tied for eighth place on the NCAA career wins chart, matching former UNH goaltender Melissa Bourdon '07
As a junior, Burt is the second-winningest active goaltender in the NCAA, behind Wisconsin's Ann-Renee Desbiens (93), who is a senior
With 51 career wins in conference play, Burt is also one win back of the Hockey East career wins record (52), held by Bourdon
Burt claimed the Boston College wins record as her own on Jan. 21 with a 3-0 shutout at Vermont ... it was her 81st career victory and passed Molly Schaus '11, who had 80 wins in her four seasons
Schaus had 20-, 14-, 22- and 24-win seasons at The Heights to set the record at the end of her career in 2010-11 ... in her almost three-year career, Burt has 30- and 35-win seasons and 21 wins so far this year

BURT SHUTTING OUT MORE RECORDS, TOO

Katie Burt's 12-save shutout of Merrimack on Jan. 13 was the 27th shutout of her career overall, and her 19th shutout in Hockey East play ... that passed Melissa Bourdon who had 18 at UNH (2003-07) and held the HEA record
Burt now holds the Hockey East career shutout record (in league games) with 20
Overall, Burt's 28 career shutouts rank eighth in NCAA history ... she is just one back of seventh place (Erica Howe/Clarkson '14) at 29 and two back of a fifth-place tie with Bourdon and Alex Rigsby/Wisconsin '14 (30)

SUPER SOPH

Makenna Newkirk was the runner-up for the AHCA National Freshman of the Year award in 2015-16, and has continued that pace this season
This year, she is the nation's fourth-leading sophomore scorer, and one of only four sophomores nationally with at least 30 points
Newkirk shares the team's scoring lead with 36 points in 30 games (1.20ppg) ... in 2015-16, she had 49 points in 41 games (1.20 ppg) to rank second among all freshmen nationally ... that offense last year averaged almost two full goals per game more than this year's team
Newkirk has stood out in conference play this season, finishing fourth in league games with 28 points in 21 games (1.33ppg) ... her 1.33 points per game were tied for third in the league behind BU's Victoria Bach (1.52ppg) and Megan Keller (1.35ppg)
Her 19 assists in HEA games are second to Keller in the conference rankings, and her 12 power-play points were most in the league
When Newkirk scores a goal this year, BC is 7-1-1 ... the Eagles are 15-1-1 when she tallies an assist
Newkirk has missed the Eagles' last three games (Feb. 12 vs. Vermont and Feb. 18-19 vs. Providence) with an injury

ANASTOS IS THE EAGLES' ANCHOR

Captain Andie Anastos has been the team's anchor this season, leading the Eagles to a 20-3-5 mark in games in which she's played all three periods
She picked up two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in the season-opening 3-3 tie at Minnesota Duluth but then was injured in the first period the following night
While Anastos dressed for the next four games, she played a handful of shifts in the first two games and none in the third and fourth ... she returned to the ice formally on Oct. 21 in the team's 0-0 tie against No. 3 Quinnipiac
She has posted 36 points (13 goals, 24 assists) in 28 full games
And all-around player, Anastos anchors the Eagles' top power-play unit ... she has 15 points on the power-play this year (5 goals, 10 assists) ... she is also on the Eagles' top penalty-kill pairing and has picked up three SH points this year (2 SHG, 1 SHA)

BELINSKAS BREAKS OUT

Freshman Delaney Belinskas made her adjustment to the college game, and enters the postseason as one of the nation's hottest freshmen ... she has six points in February, second most nationally among freshmen
After notching points in just two of the Eagles' first nine games (which did include a four-goal game against Maine on Oct. 9), Belinskas has now recorded at least one point in 17 of the team's last 24 games
Belinskas' 31 points are tied for third on the team and her 15 goals are the most on the squad
Nationally, Belinskas' 31 points are tied for second among all freshmen, and her 15 goals are fourth among first-year players
In Hockey East play, she finished tied for seventh in points (26) and tied for seventh in goals (12) among all players ... she was the conference's top-scoring rookie this year in league play, besting teammate Caitrin Lonergan by three points

EAGLES POST NEAR-RECORD PK MARK IN LEAGUE

Boston College finished the Hockey East season with a 95.7 percent success rate on the penalty kill, going 90-for-94 in league play
That mark was the second-best mark in league history, just behind the 2007-08 New Hampshire team's mark of 97.8 (89-for-91)
This was just the 11th time a team has posted a league PK mark over 90 percent in the history of Hockey East's women's league

Players Mentioned

Andie Anastos

Delaney Belinskas

Katie Burt

Kristyn Capizzano

Alex Carpenter

Megan Keller

Kenzie Kent

Caitrin Lonergan

Makenna Newkirk

Haley Skarupa

Gabri Switaj

Dana Trivigno

Tournament First-Timer Merrimack Awaits in Hockey East Quarters

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