BC Heads to Nashville for Country Classic

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The No. 8 Boston College women's hockey team will head to Nashville this weekend to face off against No. 1 Minnesota and No. 2 Wisconsin as part of the Country Classic at the Ford Ice Center Bellevue, the practice facility of the Nashville Predators.

The Eagles will play the Gophers on Friday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. ET and then take on the Badgers on Saturday Nov. 30 at 2 p.m. ET. Receiving-votes Harvard is also playing in the tournament, facing Wisconsin on Friday night and Minnesota on Saturday.

GAME 16
No. 8/8 Boston College (11-3-1) vs No. 1/1 Minnesota (13-1-2)
Ford Ice Center Bellevue | Nashville, Tenn.
Friday, Nov. 29 | 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT

GAME 17*
No. 6/6 Boston College (11-3-1) vs No. 2/2 Wisconsin (14-1-1)
Ford Ice Center Bellevue | Nashville, Tenn.
Saturday, Nov. 30 | 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
*records do not include Friday night's results.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• Boston College, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Harvard will descend on Nashville for the Country Classic at the Ford Ice Center ... the Eagles will square off against the Gophers on Friday before taking on the Badgers on Saturday while Harvard and Wisconsin will play on Friday night and Minnesota and Harvard on Saturday.
• All four teams in the tournament are ranked or receiving votes in the USCHO and USA Hockey national polls.
• Savannah Norcross enters Friday's game having scored in each of the last two games ... Cayla Barnes and Kelly Browne both have at least one point in the last two games and three out of the last four overall.
• The Eagles are 1-5-1 all-time against Minnesota and last played the Gophers in the 2016 national championship game, falling 3-1 ... BC is 0-6-0 all-time against Wisconsin and last met the Badgers in the 2017 NCAA tournament semifinal, losing 1-0.

BOSTON COLLEGE IN BRIEF
• Hannah Bilka leads the team in scoring with 21 points on 11 goals and 10 assists ... Kelly Browne has a team-high 14 assists and six goals for 20 points while Cayla Barnes has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points.
• Maddy McArthur is 9-2-1 in goal with a .919 save percentage, 1.91 goals against average and two shutouts while Kelly Pickreign is 2-1-0 with a shutout and a 1.34 goals against average and .958 save percentage.
• BC is converting on 20.7 percent of power plays and killing off 86.3 percent of penalties ... the offense is averaging 3.53 goals per game, sixth-best in the nation.
• The Eagles are 2-3-0 in the last five games, dropping contests to No. 4 Northeastern (3-0) and UConn (5-2, 2-1) while topping No. 10 Boston University (4-2) and UConn (2-1).
• BC opened up the year with seven consecutive wins and a 10-game unbeaten streak overall ... BC's 7-0-0 start marked the second-ever such start for the program (40-0-0 in 2015-16).

ABOUT MINNESOTA
• The top-ranked Gophers are coming off a 1-0-1 weekend at Minnesota Duluth, tying 2-2 on Friday before winning 4-3 on Saturday to extend the team's unbeaten streak to eight games at 6-0-2 ... Minnesota last lost on Oct. 25, dropping a road tilt at Ohio State.
• Grace Zumwinkle (12-10-22), Sarah Potomak (11-11-22) and Taylor Heise (10-12-22) have all cleared the 20-point plateau for Minnesota while nine Gophers total have at least nine points ... Zumwinkle has a team-leading 94 shots on goal.
• In goal, Sydney Scobee has started all but one contest, going 12-1-2 while posting a .937 save percentage, 1.55 goals against average and three shutouts.
• Minnesota has only allowed three power-play goals this year and ranks fourth in the nation with a killing percentage of 93.0.

SERIES HISTORY vs. MINNESOTA
• Minnesota leads the all-time series at 1-5-1.
• Four of the teams' seven meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament ... the last four meetings have been in the NCAAs.
• BC is 1-1-0 at Kelley Rink, 0-3-1 in Minneapolis and 0-1-0 at a neutral site.
• The programs met in the 2016 National Championship game - BC's first-ever appearance in the final game of the season - with UM topping BC, 3-1 after scoring 13 seconds into the game to take control.
• BC earned its only win over the Gophers in the 2011 NCAA Quarterfinals, played at Kelley Rink.
• Five of the seven meetings have been determined by a single goal or less.
• Head coach Katie Crowley has a 1-3-0 career mark against the Gophers.

ABOUT WISCONSIN
• The Badgers enter the weekend 14-1-1 overall after sweeping St. Cloud State last weekend with a pair of road wins ... second-ranked Wisconsin's lone loss on the season came in the form of a 4-2 loss at Minnesota on Nov. 2.
• Wisconsin boasts the top-ranked offense in the nation with an average of 5.25 goals per game ... Daryl Watts has a team-leading 41 points on 15 goals and 26 assists ... nine Badgers have at least 10 points, with Abby Roque (13-20-33) and Sophie Shirley (15-17-32) both surpassing 30 points.
• Kristen Campbell has started 15 of 16 contests for Wisconsin, going 13-1-1 with a 1.49 goals against average, .916 save percentage and three shutouts.
• The Badgers are converting on a nation-leading 42.3 percent of power plays ... Watts has 13 power-play points.

SERIES HISTORY vs. WISCONSIN
• Boston College and Wisconsin have met six times, including three times in the national semifinal ... the Badgers are 6-0-0 all-time against BC.
• BC is 0-1-0 at Kelley Rink, 0-2-0 in Madison and 0-3-0 on neutral ice.
• The previous three meetings between the teams featured Wisconsin as the top-ranked team in the nation ... the Badgers have been ranked in all six meetings between the teams.
• Head coach Katie Crowley is 0-3-0 all-time against Wisconsin.

LAST TIME OUT
• Boston College split a home-and-home series with UConn last weekend, falling Friday at home 2-1 before winning by the same score on the road on Saturday.
• Savannah Norcross scored for BC in the loss while Kelly Pickreign made 22 saves ... the Eagles had a 39-24 lead in shots on goal, with a season-high 20 coming in the third period.
• In Saturday's win, Cayla Barnes opened the scoring and then Norcross scored the game-winning goal with just over a minute to play in the third.
• On Tuesday, Nov. 19, the Eagles fell to No. 4 Northeastern at home, 3-0 ... the Huskies opened the scoring midway through the first period and then Aerin Frankel shut down the Eagles' offense, making 15 saves in a BC-dominated second period en route to her 31-save shutout.
• It was the first time this season that Boston College was shutout and the first time BC was kept off the scoreboard since a 1-0 loss at Merrimack on Dec. 8, 2018 (32 games) … the Eagles have only been held scoreless five times since the beginning of the 2016-17 season (131 games).

IT'S WORTH NOTING...
• Boston College ranks sixth in the country in scoring with an average of 3.53 goals per game.
• The Eagles are tied with Clarkson for a nation-leading four short-handed goals this year.
• Kelly Browne is fifth in the country with 188 face-off wins.
• BC's sophomore class has contributed 61 points on 21 goals and 40 assists ... that is 40 percent of the team's goals (21/53), 45 percent of assists (40/88) and 43 percent of the team's points (61/141).
• BC leads the country in second period scoring, racking up 62 points on 23 goals and 39 assists.
• Sixteen of BC's 53 goals scored this season have come in the opening five minutes of a period while four game-winning goals have been scored in the opening five minutes of a period.
• Seven different players have scored game-winning goals for the Eagles this season, tied with Wisconsin, Clarkson, UConn and Northeastern for second in the country behind Minnesota's eight players.
• Hannah Bilka and Savannah Norcross have each registered at least one shot on goal in all 15 games this season ... Cayla Barnes has registered at least one shot in all 14 contests that she has skated in.
• BC scored at least five goals in five of its first 10 games ... the Eagles last did that in the first 10 games of the 2014-15 season.
• BC's 7-0-0 start marked the second-ever such start in program history (40-0-0 in 2015-16).

BC Heads to Nashville for Country Classic

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Players Mentioned

Cayla Barnes

Hannah Bilka

Kelly Browne

Maddy McArthur

Savannah Norcross

Kelly Pickreign