No. 7/7 Eagles Travel to Syracuse For Non-Conference Clash

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The No. 7/7 Boston College women's hockey team will play its first non-conference game of the season on Saturday afternoon when it travels to New York to face fellow ACC school Syracuse.

GAME 4
No. 7/7 Boston College (3-0-0, 3-0-0 HEA) at Syracuse 0-2-0, 0-0-0 CHA)
Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019 | 3:00 p.m.
Tennity Ice Pavilion | Syracuse, N.Y.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• Boston College and Syracuse will meet for the ninth time in the "ACC Hockey Championship" series.
• BC is ranked seventh overall in both the USCHO and USA Hockey national polls while Syracuse is receiving votes in the USCHO poll.
• This marks the fourth consecutive road games for BC ... it is the team's longest road stretch to start a season since opening up the 2010-11 slate with five consecutive road games.
• Both BC and Syracuse earned berths to the NCAA tournament last season.

BOSTON COLLEGE IN BRIEF
• Hannah Bilka leads the team with six points on four goals and two assists while Olivia Finocchiaro (2-3-5) and Kelly Browne (2-3-5) are tied for second ... Browne's five helpers is tops on the team.
• Maddy McArthur is 3-0-0 in goal with a .984 save percentage, 0.33 goals against average and two shutouts.
• The Eagles finished the 2018-19 season with an overall record of 26-12-2 and finished second overall in Hockey East regular season standings at 19-7-1.
• The 2018-19 squad earned the program's 11th NCAA tournament berth and ninth consecutive.
• Captain Lindsay Agnew is BC's leading returning scorer after putting up 26 points on 15 goals and 11 assists a season ago ... the senior also led Hockey East and finished second in the country with four short-handed goals.
• Four players return for BC after having notched at least 20 points in last year in Agnew, Browne, Cayla Barnes and Delaney Belinskas.
• McArthur returns after leading all rookies in the country in wins (23) a season ago while posting a 1.99 goals against average and .912 save percentage ... all three of the goaltenders on BC's roster have at least one career win.

ABOUT SYRACUSE
• Syracuse opened up the 2019-20 season last weekend with a home-and-home series against No. 3 Clarkson ... Clarkson nipped Syracuse, 4-3, on Friday night at the Tennity Ice Pavilion and then the Orange fell 5-1 the next day in Potsdam.
• Four different players scored on the weekend for the Orange while seven different players logged an assist ... Lindsay Eastwood has a team-high two points on one goal and one assist.
• The Orange return seven of its top nine leaders in points from last year including three who eclipsed 20 points in Abby Moloughney (10-12-22), Emma Polaski (11-10-21) and Lauren Bellefontaine (7-13-20)
• Syracuse finished the 2018-19 season with a 13-22-3 record before topping Lindenwood, Mercyhurst, and Robert Morris en route to the CHA tournament title to claim the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
• Paul Flanagan is in his 12th season as the head coach of the Orange.
• Syracuse was tabbed third in the College Hockey America Preseason Coaches Poll.

THE SERIES vs SYRACUSE
• Saturday's game will be just the ninth time BC and Syracuse have met ... the Orange elevated to Division I status ahead of the 2008-09 season.
• BC leads the short series, 6-1-1 ... BC is 3-0-1 at home and 3-1-0 on the road ... head coach Katie Crowley has a 6-1-1 career mark against Syracuse.
• The teams play annually for the "ACC Hockey Championship" and the winner keeps a trophy for the year until the next meeting.
• Last year, the teams met in Kelley Rink with the Eagles claiming a 6-1 win over the Orange behind three points each from current senior Lindsay Agnew (1-2-3) and Makenna Newkirk (1-2-3) ... Maddy McArthur made 22 stops for her first career win.
• The teams tied their first-ever contest on Oct. 9, 2009 in Chestnut Hill, before the Eagles earned a 5-2 win at Syracuse on Oct. 9, 2010.

LAST TIME OUT
• Boston College topped Holy Cross in Hockey East action on Thursday night in Worcester, 6-0.
• Hannah Bilka scored four goals - including even-strength and short-handed tallies - while Kelly Browne (0-4-4) and Olivia Finocchiaro (1-3-4) also had four points ... Delaney Belinskas added a short-handed goal.
• BC's two short-handed goals marked the first time the Eagles scored two short-handed goals in a game since Jan. 5, 2018 against New Hampshire.
• Bilka became the first BC player to score four goals in a game since Toni Ann Miano had four against Northeastern on Jan. 13, 2018 and the first freshman to do it since Jan. 5, 2018.
• Maddy McArthur made 15 stops for her second shutout of the season and seventh of her career ... it was her second career shutout of the Crusaders.

BILKA BLASTS OFF
• After tallying two assists in her second collegiate game, Hannah Bilka scored four goals in BC's 6-0 win at Holy Cross on Oct. 3.
• Bilka potted two even-strength goals while also registering the first short-handed and power-play goals of her career ... she also picked up her first career game-winning goal with the opening tally.
• It marked the first four-goal game for BC since Toni Ann Miano's in a win at Northeastern on Jan. 13, 2018 and the first for a BC freshman since Daryl Watts on Jan. 5, 2018.
• Through the first three games, Bilka leads BC in points (6), goals (4), and shots on goal (14).

FINOCCHIARO FINDS THE NET
• After recording two points on one goal and one assist as a freshman, Olivia Finocchiaro has put up five points on two goals and three assists through the first three games of her sophomore campaign.
• After a single goal in BC's 3-1 win at Merrimack on Sept. 28, she had a career-high four-point outing at Holy Cross on Oct. 3.
• Finocchiaro assisted on the first three goals of the game before scoring her own in the third period of the 6-0 win.
• She's registered 10 shots on goal through the first three games after firing 19 shots on goal in 39 games in 2018-19.

THE PUCK STOPS HERE
• Maddy McArthur has stopped 63 of the 64 shots she has faced so far this year, going 3-0-0 with a 0.33 goals against average and .984 save percentage while posting two shutouts.
• She made 25 stops for her sixth career shutout in a season-opening 2-0 win at Merrimack on Sept. 27 ... she was the first BC goaltender to post a shutout in the first game of the season since Molly Schaus '11 made 29 saves in a 4-0 win at Colgate on Oct. 8, 2010.
• She had a 15-save outing for her second shutout of the year at Holy Cross on Oct. 3.
• McArthur is the first BC goaltender to post two shutouts in the first three games of a season since Schaus did it during that 2010-11 season.

MEET THE CAPTAINS
• Erin Connolly and Lindsay Agnew will serve as captains of the 2019-20 Eagles while Molly Barrow and Delaney Belinskas will serve as assistant captains.
• All four players are first-time captains for BC and all four players are seniors.

No. 7/7 Eagles Travel to Syracuse For Non-Conference Clash

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Players Mentioned

Lindsay Agnew

Cayla Barnes

Molly Barrow

Delaney Belinskas

Hannah Bilka

Kelly Browne

Erin Connolly

Olivia Finocchiaro

Maddy McArthur

Toni Ann Miano

Makenna Newkirk