Four Eagles Selected in NWHL Draft

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Four Boston College women's hockey seniors were selected in the 2018 National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) Draft, which was held Wednesday and Thursday.

Megan Keller was picked third overall by the Buffalo Beauts. Two picks later, fellow blue liner Kali Flanagan was taken fifth overall by the Boston Pride. Forward Makenna Newkirk was selected seventh overall by the Connecticut Whale in the second round. A third Eagles' defender went off the board in the fourth round with Grace Bizal going to her home state Minnesota Whitecaps with the 19th overall pick.

Bizal has had a hand in five of BC's 13 game-winning goals this season, scoring a career-high two while assisting on three. The assistant captain is tied for 11th nationally among defensemen with 12 points from two goals and 10 assists. Bizal, who put together a career-long four-game point streak from Oct. 6-20, has had two multiple-point outings this season and registered her 50th career point on Nov. 24 at Holy Cross. The Minnetonka, Minnesota native is 10th in program history in points (52) and ninth in assists (45).

Keller currently leads all defenders in the country in scoring, putting up 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists. The captain's nine goals and five power-play goals are both tops among blue liners. Her five power-play scores tie for the overall national lead. She has registered at least one point in 15 of the 19 games that she has played this season and earned multiple points in seven outings. Keller is the Eagles' career leader in defenseman points (135) and assists (102) and second in goals (33). Her 102 assists are tied for fourth overall in program history.

Flanagan, who along with Keller was a member of the gold-medal winning, 2018 U.S. Olympic Team, is the Eagles' most-tenured defenseman with 138 appearances. She has 59 career points from 15 goals and 44 assists. All three of those numbers place her in the top 10 amongst BC blue liner career records. The captain has registered seven points on one goal and six assists so far this season.

Earlier this season, Newkirk became the fifth player in program history to reach 150 career points. The two-year captain is currently second on the team to Keller in points with a team-high 14 assists and seven goals. She is fifth in program history in career points (170), tied for fourth in assists (102), sixth in goals (68), fourth in game-winning goals (14), and fifth in power-play goals (21). Entering the 2018-19 season, Newkirk was the lone Division I player that had finished each of the previous three seasons in the top 25 in scoring.

Bizal, Keller, Flanagan and Newkirk bring the Eagles' total of NWHL-drafted players to 12. BC has had two number one overall drafts picks in the NWHL Draft, with Katie Burt '18 going first overall last year while Alex Carpenter '16 as chosen first overall by the New York Riveters in the league's inaugural draft in 2015. The Eagles' three picks in the first two rounds of the draft marked the most of any school -- BC was just one of two schools (Wisconsin) with multiple players drafted in the first two rounds. The league, which was established in 2015, is the top professional women's hockey league in the United States and currently has five teams with locations in Boston, Buffalo, Connecticut, New York City and Minnesota.

Twelve BC alumnae are currently competing in the NWHL while 17 total Eagles are skating professionally this season.

Players Mentioned

Grace Bizal

Katie Burt

Kali Flanagan

Megan Keller

Makenna Newkirk

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