Boston College
Merrimack
Hockey East Play Begins for No. 6 BC
October 18, 2018 | Women's Hockey
Merrimack, UVM on tap for the Eagles as conference play begins
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The No. 6 Boston College women's hockey team opens Hockey East play this weekend with a pair of games at Kelley Rink. Merrimack comes to town on Friday night for a 6 p.m. faceoff before Vermont ventures to Chestnut Hill for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday.
Saturday will be the team's annual Skate with the Eagles and also the Skating Strides game.
Boston College (3-2-0, 0-0-0 HEA) is coming off a pair of 2-1 overtime wins over then No. 10 St. Lawrence last weekend. Four different players scored the goals for the Eagles in the home series and BC now has nine different players with at least one goal. While this is the conference opener for BC, Merrimack (3-0-2, 0-0-1 HEA) and Vermont (0-1-2, 0-1-0 HEA) have both played one Hockey East contest this season. The Warriors tied Boston University last weekend, 2-2, while UVM dropped its season opener to UConn, 4-2. The Catamounts play at New Hampshire on Friday night.
GAME 6
No. 6/6 Boston College (3-2-0, 0-0-0 HEA) vs. Merrimack (3-0-2, 0-0-1 HEA)
Kelley Rink at Conte Forum | Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Friday, Oct. 19, 2018 | 6 p.m.
GAME 7
No. 6/6 Boston College (3-2-0, 0-0-0 HEA)Â vs. Vermont (0-1-2, 0-1-0 HEA)*
Kelley Rink at Conte Forum | Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018 | 3 p.m.
*records do not include Friday night's results.
ABOUT MERRIMACK
• The Warriors enter Friday night's game unbeaten on the year at 3-0-2.
• In their last game on Oct. 12, a late tying goal from Katelyn Rae forced overtime and an eventual 2-2 tie with Boston University in the conference opener.
• Rae leads Merrimack with six points (4-2-6) while Mikyla Grant-Mentis has four (3-1-4), including two game-winning goals.
• Goalie Samantha Ridgewell has seen all the action for Merrimack, going 3-0-2 with a .963 save percentage, .970 goals against average and one shutout.
• After a sweep of Union to start the season, the Warriors went 1-0-1 the next weekend against Penn State.Â
• Merrimack, who was tabbed ninth in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches' poll, is in its fourth season as a member of the conference.
THE SERIES vs. MERRIMACK
• BC is 11-0-0 all-time against Merrimack ... the Warriors became a D1 team and joined Hockey East in 2015-16.
• The Eagles are 6-0-0 at Kelley Rink and 5-0-0 at Lawler Rink.
• Last year the teams met three times, with the Eagles and Warriors playing three consecutive games ... two came on a home-and-home in the final games of the semester and the third came in a single game at Merrimack to open 2018.
• BC has shut out the Warriors five times in 11 meetings, including both games of the teams' 2017 HEA Quarterfinal and the first two games of the all-time series.
• BC has scored five shorthanded goals against the Warriors, including three in 2016-17.
ABOUT VERMONT
• UVM's game at New Hampshire on Friday night will mark the first road contest for the Catamounts after opening up with three home games.
• After dropping the season opener against UConn, Vermont battled to two ties with ECAC Hockey's Quinnipiac.
• Olivia Kilberg has a team-high four points on one goal and three assists ... 11 players total have at least one point.Â
• Melissa Black has started two games in goal while Blanka Skodova has started one.
• UVM returns 15 members from the 2017-18 squad that fell to BC in the Hockey East Tournament quarterfinals ... the three top point-getters are back in Eve-Audrey Picard, Alyssa Gorecki and Saana Valkama.
• The Catamounts were picked eighth in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches' poll.
THE SERIES vs. VERMONT
• The teams met five times last season, with BC taking all five contests ... BC swept the three-game regular-season series (4-2, 3-2, 2-1) and the Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal series (3-1, 6-1).
• Saturday marks the 51st meeting between the two teams as varsity squads ... BC and UVM played one game before the Catamounts ascended to varsity status.
• The Eagles are 43-3-3 in the series since 1999-2000, when both teams were Division I varsity squads (UVM's second year of varsity status).
• BC has won the last 20 meetings between the teams and is 24-0-1 in the last 25 meetings, dating back to Jan. 14, 2012.
• Vermont's first-ever Division 1 win came against BC: a 3-2 OT win on Oct. 18, 2002 in Chestnut Hill ... UVM also won the 2003 meeting (3-1 at Kelley Rink).
SENIORS HIT THE CENTURY MARK
• With BC's 2-1 overtime win over St. Lawrence on Oct. 11, seniors Grace Bizal, Makenna Newkirk, Ryan Little, Serena Sommerfield and Molly Slowe earned their 100th career victory as Eagles.
• The two other members of the Class of 2019 - Megan Keller and Kali Flanagan - hit the century mark during the 2016-17 season.
IT'S WORTH NOTING
• The Eagles have 11 players with at least one point.
• Nine different players have scored at least one goal.Â
• Makenna Newkirk is second overall in Hockey East in faceoff wins with 44.
• Daryl Watts is averaging 5.20 shots on goal per game, which is fifth overall in the nation.
