Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Rich Gagnon
"We Want To Win It For Everyone Who Came Before Us"
March 15, 2017 | Women's Hockey, #ForBoston Files
Eagles head to St. Charles in search of second straight NCAA title game berth.
Andie Anastos never forgot the feeling.
A junior on a star-laden Boston College hockey team - a team that was completely perfect at 40-0 entering the National Championship game - she watched as the clock ticked down to all zeroes. It had taken all of 13 seconds into the NCAA Championship Game for the Minnesota Golden Gophers to score, and as the clock expired, it was virtually all the underdog had needed.
One year later, the now-senior captain isn't looking for the perfect season. Instead, she's just looking for the perfect ending.
"We really wanted it last year," Anastos said. "The National Championship is something the program has never done before, and we wanted to do it for everyone that had a role in getting us to that point. It's a loss that really stuck with all of us because we feel like we missed out. This year, especially for the seniors, we have one more chance for all the coaches, the players, and everyone who came before us."
One year after the Gophers dashed the Eagles' national championship dreams, BC is back in the Women's Frozen Four. But while there's an element of unfinished business, it's also a completely different situation and a different look as fourth-seeded BC gears up, like Minnesota did last year, for a game with the statistically-unbeatable top-ranked team in the Wisconsin Badgers.
"It's hard to discern and describe the differences from last year's team to this season," head coach Katie King-Crowley said. "We're young at the top of our roster but we have great depth. We've had players playing different roles, but everyone stepped up and played different roles."
It's excusable if people feel like a BC trip to the Frozen Four is a foregone conclusion. Even with roster turnover, the Eagles had long stretches of hockey where they simply didn't lose. They lost only two games after Nov. 5, at one point rattling off 17 straight games without defeat. They enter Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., with a six game winning streak, fresh off a dominating 6-0 defeat of sixth-ranked St. Lawrence in the NCAA Quarterfinal.
Along the way, they picked up several special-edition wins. They beat Harvard, 3-1, at Frozen Fenway, then kicked off Trophy Season with a 2-1 Beanpot win over Northeastern. They won the Hockey East Tournament in dramatic fashion, beating Vermont in double overtime before defeating the Huskies in overtime. Their 6-0 win over St. Lawrence was nothing short of impressive. With consecutive Beanpots and Hockey East championships piling up, along with NCAA victories and now three straight Frozen Fours, BC has a resume good enough to be one of the biggest, baddest dogs in the yard.
But that feeling and expectation is new to this year's edition. Owing to losses of players like Alex Carpenter and Hayley Skarupa, they did so with new heroes emerging. They lost a number of players to injury over the course of the year, forcing new athletes to step into the spotlight. Now firing on all cylinders, it's not without a chip on the team's shoulder that everyone expected them to drop off.
"Our seniors have a chip on their shoulder that they want that title," Crowley said. "It's a driving force, and the Frozen Four is really a tribute to them. They've been great voices, and I'm so proud of them for what they've accomplished. They've often been overshadowed, but they've just stepped up on and off the ice. They've done everything that's been asked of them."
"We had to step back at the beginning of the year and refocus to teach new kids how to play BC hockey," Anastos recalled. "We had to find how to play as a team without players who we had lost who were great teammates and special players. We knew people were doubting us, so we just kept it in the back of our minds, and we wanted to prove those people wrong."
If they've proven most doubters wrong, there's still one mountain to climb. Seeded fourth in the national tournament means a semifinal date with the overall #1 team in the nation: Wisconsin.
The Badger statistics are staggering. Their offense is the only team averaging over four goals per game, and they allowed less than one goal per game defensively. Goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens recorded 16 shutouts during the season while posting a .963 save percentage and a 0.69 goals against average. She's one of three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, and she headlines a team that finished the year with a 124 rating.
Wisconsin hasn't lost since Dec. 3, entering the Frozen Four on an 18-0-3 run. They're the undisputed number one team, a dominant roster that just blew out Robert Morris, 7-0, in their own NCAA Quarterfinal.
"Wisconsin is a great team and they've had a great year," Crowley said. "They have a great goaltender, and they have potent forwards. But I think we match up well with them. In these games, it's all about who capitalizes on the opportunity given to them. They didn't play any Hockey East teams, so we don't know a lot about them; but we've seen (leading scorer) Annie Pankowski play a lot when we recruited her. We just know what we have to do - which is play Boston College hockey and outcompete our opponent."
"We like to play hard on the forecheck and pressure teams," Anastos said. "We like to pin teams down in their zone, and even though our defense has been different through the years, we can play three hard lines against anyone. Last year, we didn't keep our composure in a big game; our emotions ran high because we wanted to win so badly. We know this year that we have to keep the team calmer and lead for the younger players who haven't been in this spot before."
The Eagles and Badgers drop the puck on Friday evening at 6 p.m. ET. The games can be viewed on NCAA.com.
A junior on a star-laden Boston College hockey team - a team that was completely perfect at 40-0 entering the National Championship game - she watched as the clock ticked down to all zeroes. It had taken all of 13 seconds into the NCAA Championship Game for the Minnesota Golden Gophers to score, and as the clock expired, it was virtually all the underdog had needed.
One year later, the now-senior captain isn't looking for the perfect season. Instead, she's just looking for the perfect ending.
"We really wanted it last year," Anastos said. "The National Championship is something the program has never done before, and we wanted to do it for everyone that had a role in getting us to that point. It's a loss that really stuck with all of us because we feel like we missed out. This year, especially for the seniors, we have one more chance for all the coaches, the players, and everyone who came before us."
One year after the Gophers dashed the Eagles' national championship dreams, BC is back in the Women's Frozen Four. But while there's an element of unfinished business, it's also a completely different situation and a different look as fourth-seeded BC gears up, like Minnesota did last year, for a game with the statistically-unbeatable top-ranked team in the Wisconsin Badgers.
"It's hard to discern and describe the differences from last year's team to this season," head coach Katie King-Crowley said. "We're young at the top of our roster but we have great depth. We've had players playing different roles, but everyone stepped up and played different roles."
It's excusable if people feel like a BC trip to the Frozen Four is a foregone conclusion. Even with roster turnover, the Eagles had long stretches of hockey where they simply didn't lose. They lost only two games after Nov. 5, at one point rattling off 17 straight games without defeat. They enter Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., with a six game winning streak, fresh off a dominating 6-0 defeat of sixth-ranked St. Lawrence in the NCAA Quarterfinal.
Along the way, they picked up several special-edition wins. They beat Harvard, 3-1, at Frozen Fenway, then kicked off Trophy Season with a 2-1 Beanpot win over Northeastern. They won the Hockey East Tournament in dramatic fashion, beating Vermont in double overtime before defeating the Huskies in overtime. Their 6-0 win over St. Lawrence was nothing short of impressive. With consecutive Beanpots and Hockey East championships piling up, along with NCAA victories and now three straight Frozen Fours, BC has a resume good enough to be one of the biggest, baddest dogs in the yard.
But that feeling and expectation is new to this year's edition. Owing to losses of players like Alex Carpenter and Hayley Skarupa, they did so with new heroes emerging. They lost a number of players to injury over the course of the year, forcing new athletes to step into the spotlight. Now firing on all cylinders, it's not without a chip on the team's shoulder that everyone expected them to drop off.
"Our seniors have a chip on their shoulder that they want that title," Crowley said. "It's a driving force, and the Frozen Four is really a tribute to them. They've been great voices, and I'm so proud of them for what they've accomplished. They've often been overshadowed, but they've just stepped up on and off the ice. They've done everything that's been asked of them."
"We had to step back at the beginning of the year and refocus to teach new kids how to play BC hockey," Anastos recalled. "We had to find how to play as a team without players who we had lost who were great teammates and special players. We knew people were doubting us, so we just kept it in the back of our minds, and we wanted to prove those people wrong."
If they've proven most doubters wrong, there's still one mountain to climb. Seeded fourth in the national tournament means a semifinal date with the overall #1 team in the nation: Wisconsin.
The Badger statistics are staggering. Their offense is the only team averaging over four goals per game, and they allowed less than one goal per game defensively. Goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens recorded 16 shutouts during the season while posting a .963 save percentage and a 0.69 goals against average. She's one of three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, and she headlines a team that finished the year with a 124 rating.
Wisconsin hasn't lost since Dec. 3, entering the Frozen Four on an 18-0-3 run. They're the undisputed number one team, a dominant roster that just blew out Robert Morris, 7-0, in their own NCAA Quarterfinal.
"Wisconsin is a great team and they've had a great year," Crowley said. "They have a great goaltender, and they have potent forwards. But I think we match up well with them. In these games, it's all about who capitalizes on the opportunity given to them. They didn't play any Hockey East teams, so we don't know a lot about them; but we've seen (leading scorer) Annie Pankowski play a lot when we recruited her. We just know what we have to do - which is play Boston College hockey and outcompete our opponent."
"We like to play hard on the forecheck and pressure teams," Anastos said. "We like to pin teams down in their zone, and even though our defense has been different through the years, we can play three hard lines against anyone. Last year, we didn't keep our composure in a big game; our emotions ran high because we wanted to win so badly. We know this year that we have to keep the team calmer and lead for the younger players who haven't been in this spot before."
The Eagles and Badgers drop the puck on Friday evening at 6 p.m. ET. The games can be viewed on NCAA.com.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey#23 Baseball Defeats Virginia Tech (April 11,2026
Saturday, April 11
Football: Zeke Moore Media Availability (April 10, 2026)
Friday, April 10
Football: Bill O'Brien Media Availability (April 10, 2026)
Friday, April 10
Football: Favor Bate Media Availability (April 10, 2026)
Friday, April 10
