Boston College
Northeastern
No. 10 Eagles, No. 3 Huskies to Meet in Home-and-Home Series
January 09, 2019 | Women's Hockey
The teams will square off Friday at Matthews Arena and on Saturday at Kelley Rink.
Boston College (13-8-0, 10-6-0 HEA) played its first game of 2019 last Saturday, falling on the road at New Hampshire, 3-2. Daryl Watts and Lindsay Agnew scored for the Eagles in the loss but the Wildcats used two third period goals to get the win. Watts leads BC with 12 goals while Megan Keller is tops on the team in points with 23 off of 14 assists and nine goals. Watts (12-9-21) and Makenna Newkirk (7-14-21) join Keller above the 20-point plateau.
The third-ranked Huskies (14-2-3, 12-1-2 HEA) played a two-game series against No. 6 Clarkson in Northern Ireland last week. The teams skated to a 3-3 tie on Saturday and then Northeastern won, 3-1, on Sunday. Alina Mueller earned her third league Rookie of the Week honor on Monday after notching one goal and two assists in the series. The freshman has a team-high 29 points (13-16-29), tied for sixth in the nation and first among freshmen.
The teams met on Nov. 27, 2018, with the Huskies eking out a 5-4 overtime win at Matthews Arena. Newkirk scored two third period goals to give BC a one-goal lead but NU tied it late with an extra-attacker goal to send it to overtime where Mia Brown potted the game-winner midway through. Since its win over BC on Nov. 27, NU is 2-1-1 after a split with Holy Cross - losing 5-3 on the road and winning 3-0 at home - gave way to the semester break and subsequent international series.
After the series with Northeastern, the Eagles will head to Vermont to take on the Catamounts in the final two games of that regular season series on Jan. 18 and 19.
GAME 22
No. 10/10 Boston College (13-8-0, 10-6-0 HEA) at No. 3/3 Northeastern (14-2-3, 12-1-2 HEA)
Matthews Arena | Boston
Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 | 7 p.m.
GAME 23
No. 10/10 Boston College (13-8-0, 10-6-0 HEA) vs. No. 3/3 Northeastern (14-2-3, 12-1-2 HEA)*
Kelley Rink at Conte Forum | Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019 | 2 p.m.
*records do not include Friday night's results.
ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE
• The Eagles head into the weekend series 1-5-0 in the last six games after being edged on the road by New Hampshire this past weekend, 3-2.
• Against the Wildcats, Lindsay Agnew and Daryl Watts scored while Megan Keller registered a point in her 16th game of the season.
• Four of those five losses have been by one goal and the fifth saw an empty-net goal late.
• Keller (9-14-23) leads the team in points while Makenna Newkirk (7-14-21) and Watts (12-9-21) are second on the team.
• The Eagles sit in the top 10 in the country in both team offense (2.95, 9th) and team defense (1.81, 10th).
• BC sits tied for second with Providence in the Hockey East standings … both squads have 20 points while BC has played three more games than the Friars … Northeastern sits first with 26 points through 15 games played.
ABOUT NORTHEASTERN
• The third-ranked Huskies played a two-game series against No. 6 Clarkson in Northern Ireland last week … the teams skated to a 3-3 tie on Saturday and then Northeastern won, 3-1, on Sunday.Â
• Alina Mueller earned her third league Rookie of the Week honor after notching one goal and two assists in the series … the freshman has a team-high 29 points (13-16-29), tied for sixth in the nation and first among freshmen.
• Aerin Frankel (9-1-1) and Brittany Bugalski (5-1-2) split time in net the first semester but Frankel started both games against Clarkson … Frankel boasts a 1.17 goals against average, .957 save percentage and five shutouts on the year.
• Since its win over BC on Nov. 27, NU is 2-1-1 … a split with Holy Cross (losing 5-3 on the road and winning 3-0 at home) gave way to the semester break and subsequent international series.
LAST TIME vs. THE HUSKIES
• BC and Northeastern squared off on Nov. 27, with the then-No. 5 Huskies topping then-No. 4 BC, 5-4, in overtime at Matthews Arena.
• It was the program's first overtime loss since a March 22, 2013 Frozen Four Semifinal loss to Minnesota).
• BC jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first but the Huskies had a 3-2 lead after two.
• Makenna Newkirk scored two third period goals to give BC a one-goal lead but NU tied it late with an extra-attacker goal to send it to OT where Mia Brown potted the game-winner.
• Northeastern was 1-for-5 on the power play in the game while BC was 2-for-3.
• Maddy McArthur made 28 saves on 33 shots for BC while Aerin Frankel stopped 46 of 50.
KELLER MAKES HER CASE
• Megan Keller leads all defensemen nationally in scoring with a nation-high nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points.
• The senior is tied for the overall country lead in power-play goals with five.
• Her five power-play goals are a career-high and her two game-winning goals tie a career-high.
• Keller points total sits tied for 16th while her 1.15 points per game average is tied for 21st … three defenders have put up 17 points on the year while the next closest blue liner to Keller's points per game total sits at 0.89.
• The last defenseman to average at least 1.15 points per game during a season was Keller, doing it during her sophomore 2015-16 season (1.27).
• Keller has 68 shots on goal and is averaging 3.40 shots on goal per game, ranking fourth and fifth in the nation among blue liners.
• She has 68 blocks and is a plus-14.
AGNEW'S ARRIVAL A WELCOME ONE
• Junior transfer Lindsay Agnew has made an immediate impact on the Heights, setting career-highs in points (14), goals (6) and assists (8).
• The junior has also scored two-game winning goals and two short-handed goals and has tied a career-high in blocks (9).
• Her first period tally against Syracuse on Oct. 6 served as not only the winning goal but the first game-winner of her career.
• Agnew earned her first career short-handed goal in BC's win at Holy Cross on Oct. 26.
• The Oakville, Ontario native also put together a career-long six-game point streak.
• The team is 10-1-0 when she has at least one point.
DEFENSE CHIPPIN' IN
• In addition to help Boston College sit in the top 10 in the country in goals against per game (1.81, t-10th), the Eagles' defensive corps is first in the nation in points (61), points per game (2.90), goals (15) and second in assists (46).
• The Eagles have three players in Megan Keller, Cayla Barnes and Grace Bizal that sit in the top 15 in the country in defensemen scoring, the most of any team.
• Keller (9-14-23) leads all blue liners in points while Barnes (3-11-14) is ninth and Bizal (2-10-12) is tied for 14th.
• Barnes is the only rookie to crack the top 10.
• BC defensemen have scored a nation-leading eight goals on the power play.
• Blue liners have scored five game-winning goals for BC, tops in the country.
• The BC defense has chipped in on 24% of the squad's goals (15/62), 43% of the assists (46/107) and 36% of the overall points (61/169).
IT'S WORTH NOTING
• Freshman Kelly Browne is first among conference rookies in faceoff wins with 193 (sixth overall) ... she led all freshman in the country in face-off wins in the month of November with 75.
• Caitrin Lonergan's .613 face-off winning percentage is fourth in the league.
• Daryl Watts is fourth in Hockey East with an average of 5.05 shots on goal per game while Lonergan is fifth with an average of 4.37.
• Among forwards, Makenna Newkirk's 32 blocks leads all of Hockey East and is sixth in the country.
• With her goal at UNH on Jan. 5, Lindsay Agnew set a career-high in points (14) and goals (6).
• BC started Hockey East play 5-0-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
