Eagles Look to Rebound Friday Night at Quinnipiac

HAMDEN, Conn. - Boston College will try to rebound from a season-opening road sweep at the hands of Wisconsin as the 18th-ranked Eagles hit the road to face Quinnipiac on Friday (Oct. 19) in a rematch of the 2016 NCAA Semifinal in Tampa Bay. The Bobcats are 2-0-0 following tight wins over Hockey East opponents Vermont (3-2) and UConn (4-2). The Eagles are looking for their first-ever win against QU, having gone 0-2-1 in the previous three meetings. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will air live on ESPN+ and WEEI 850 AM.

OPENING WEEKEND
• Wisconsin rookies K'Andre Miller and Mick Messner each collected their first collegiate goals in the second period as the Badgers shut out then-No. 10 Boston College 3-0 on Friday to open the series
• It was the first time that BC has been shut out on the road since a 1-0 loss at Providence on Nov. 29, 2014
• After a scoreless first period, Miller delayed before firing a wrist shot through a screen to beat Joseph Woll (22 saves) at 6:17 of the second; Messner doubled the lead at the 15:57 mark as he followed his own rebound
• On Saturday, BC roared back from three goals down in the second period to tie the game 4-4, but Wisconsin scored the next two and hung on for a 7-5 win to sweep the weekend
• Junior David Cotton netted his first career hat trick while tying a career-high with four points, while four other Eagles (Brown, Kim, Moore, Tortora) posted two-assist performances
• Rookie Oliver Wahlstrom scored his first collegiate goal in the opening period, and junior Graham McPhee lit the lamp on the power play as the Eagles finished the night 2-for-5

SCOUTING QUINNIPIAC
• The Bobcats hosted UConn on Tuesday night, beating the Huskies 4-2 behind a pair of goals from rookie William Fallstrom
• QU allowed just 13 shots on goal to the Huskies in the win
• In their season opener last Saturday, the Bobcats came back from 2-1 down in the third period at Vermont with a pair of goals in the final 2:19 to win 3-2 in Burlington
• Odeen Tufto led the Bobcats in scoring last year with 32 assists and 41 points as a rookie; defenseman Chase Priskie is the second-leading returner (11-14-25)
• Andrew Shortridge (11-12-2, 2.36 GAA, .906 SV%) and Keith Petruzzelli (5-6-2, 2.88, .892) both saw significant playing time in net; Petruzzelli is 2-0-0 thus far this season
• Quinnipiac went 16-18-4 last year and finished 9-11-2 in ECAC play; QU was swept at Cornell by a combined 11-1 score in the ECAC Quarterfinals
• Rand Pecknold is in his 25th season as the head coach of the program and entered the season just 15 wins shy of 500 during his tenure in Hamden

SERIES HISTORY
• The Eagles and Badgers are meeting for just the fourth time in series history and the first time ever with Quinnipiac serving as the home team
• Last year, Boston College and Quinnipiac opened the regular season in Chestnut Hill, skating to a 1-1 tie in the squads' first-ever meeting at Kelley Rink
• Jacob Tortora's first career goal tied the game with 4:01 left in regulation on the power play, cancelling out Alex Whelan's tally in the second period at 15:10
• The schools' first meeting came at the 2016 Frozen Four in Tampa
• Quinnipiac edged BC 3-2 in the National Semifinal before falling to North Dakota 5-1 in the NCAA Championship Game two nights later
• The Bobcats and Eagles met again the following season in Pittsburgh before New Year's during the Three Rivers Classic, a 3-1 QU victory at PPG Paints Arena
• Quinnipiac is already 2-0-0 against Hockey East opposition to start the season

HATS OFF
• David Cotton's first career multi-goal game came in the form of a hat trick last Saturday night at Wisconsin
• Cotton added an assist to match his career-high with four points on the night in Madison
• All three of his tallies and his assist came in the final 25 minutes of the contest at the Kohl Center
• The junior has one of only four hat tricks nationwide to this point in the Division I season through two weekends
• Last year, the Eagles' only hat trick came from Logan Hutsko against Harvard in the Beanpot (natural hat trick)

AT THE DOT
• Boston College won 58.3% of its faceoffs last weekend and leads Hockey East through two games
• That mark is also good for sixth in the nation at this early stage of the season
• Marc McLaughlin (17-for-24) and Julius Mattila (30-for-45) both had standout weekends at the dot in Madison
• Last year as a team, the Eagles won 52% of their faceoffs to rank second in Hockey East and 15th nationally

WHO'S NEXT
• The Eagles host St. Cloud State next Thursday night (Oct. 25) at Kelley Rink for the home opener at 7 p.m.

Eagles Look to Rebound Friday Night at Quinnipiac

Players Mentioned

David Cotton

Logan Hutsko

Julius Mattila

Marc McLaughlin

Graham McPhee

Jacob Tortora

Oliver Wahlstrom

Joseph Woll

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