Boston College
Northeastern
Eagles, Huskies Clash in Hockey East Tournament Title Game Today
March 10, 2019 | Women's Hockey
BC and Northeastern will meet in the championship for the second time in the last three seasons.
Boston College (26-10-1) advanced to the championship game by topping third-seed Boston University, 5-1. Paced by a two-goal, one-assist outing from Daryl Watts and 10 total Eagles with points, BC pushed its unbeaten streak to eight games with the win. Watts (21-24-45) is first on the team in points while Patty Kazmaier Top-3 Finalist Megan Keller (19-24-43) is second. Top-seeded Northeastern (26-5-5) advanced to Sunday's championship game by topping fourth-seeded Providence, 3-2. Aerin Frankel made 32 saves for the win while Chloe Aurard had a goal and an assist. Alina Mueller - the Hockey East Rookie of the Year - has a team-high 50 points on 20 goals and 30 assists.
Boston College is 45-38-7 all-time against Northeastern since elevating to Division I status for the 1995-95 season. BC and Northeastern have met three times before in the Hockey East Tournament, and BC holds an overall record of 2-1 and with the two wins coming in titles games against the Huskies (2011, 2017).
HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP | GAME 38No. 6/6 Boston College (26-10-1) vs. No. 3/3 Northeastern (26-5-5)
Schneider Arena | Providence, R.I.Â
Sunday, March 11, 2019 | 1:35 p.m.
ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE
• BC advanced to the championship game by topping third-seed Boston University, 5-1.
• Paced by a two-goal, one-assist outing from Daryl Watts and 10 total Eagles with points, BC pushed its unbeaten streak to eight games with the win.
• BC got to the semifinal tilt yesterday for the ninth consecutive season by sweeping UConn in its quarterfinal series, 4-1 and 5-4.
• The Eagles went 4-0-1 to finish the regular season and then topped UConn twice in the quarterfinals.
• Watts (21-24-45) is first on the team in points while Patty Kazmaier Top-3 Finalist Megan Keller (19-24-43) is second ... Makenna Newkirk (12-28-40) leads the team in assists and is third in points.
• Maddy McArthur (23-9-1, .912 save percentage, 1.99 goals against average, five shutouts) has played most of the minutes in goal ... both Molly Barrow and Kelly Pickreign have picked up wins for BC.
ABOUT NORTHEASTERN
• The top-seeded Huskies advanced to Sunday's championship game by topping fourth-seeded Providence, 3-2.
• Aerin Frankel made 32 saves for the win while Chloe Aurard had a goal and an assist.
• Alina Mueller - the Hockey East Rookie of the Year - has a team-high 50 points on 20 goals and 30 assists ... Kasidy Anderson is tied with Mueller for the team lead in goals and is second in points (20-15-35).
• Frankel - the Hockey East Goaltender of the Year - boasts a 1.78 goals against average and .934 save percentage while holding a 20-3-3 overall record and posting six shutouts.
• Northeastern is 6-2-2 in its last 10 games ... the Huskies went 2-2-1 in the last five games of the regular season.
• This is the third straight title game for the Huskies.
• Northeastern is the only team in the NCAA to have five players with at least 30 points on the year.
BC IN THE HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT
• Boston College is playing in its 14th Hockey East Tournament this season ... that ties with UConn for the third-most appearances in league history behind Providence (17) and New Hampshire (15).Â
• The Eagles have won three titles (2011, 2016, 2017) and with today, have advanced to five out of the last six championship games ... BC's eight championship game appearances are most in league history.
• BC is 23-10 all-time in the Hockey East Tournament, second only to Boston University's 25-10 mark.
• The Eagles are 3-4 in the championship game.
• BC has a mark of 8-5 in the tournament as the No. 2 seed, winning the 2011 title as the second seed ... BC is 4-3 in the semifinals as the No. 2 seed.
TRYING TO FIND THE FOURTH
• Boston College is in search of its fourth Hockey East Tournament title.
• The Eagles broke a five-year drought in 2016 with a 5-0 win over Boston University and repeated in 2017 with a 2-1 win over Northeastern before falling in last year's semifinal round to UConn (4-2).
• BC won its first championship in 2011, topping fifth-seeded Northeastern, 3-1, while seeded second.
IT'S WORTH NOTING
• The Eagles surrender 20.33 shots on goal per game, fifth fewest in the country.
• BC has four players with at least 30 points, which ties with Clarkson, Colgate, and Wisconsin for second in the country behind Northeastern's five.
• Kelly Browne is second among conference rookies and sixth overall in face-off wins with 335.
• BC earned its 20th win of the season on Feb. 8 against UNH, making it one of five teams in the country to be at the mark at that one of the season and one of eight to close out the regular season.
• As a team, BC is one of eight teams in the country to have at least 300 points ... the Eagles have combined for 352 points (129-223-352).
• Megan Keller has registered at least one point in 28 of her 36 games played this season and has 11 multi-point outings.
• Caitrin Lonergan's .614 face-off winning percentage is third in the league while Makenna Newkirk's .566 is 11th.
• Daryl Watts is fourth in Hockey East with an average of 4.73 shots on goal per game while Lonergan is sixth with an average of 4.51.
• Among forwards, Newkirk's 55 blocks leads all of Hockey East and is tied for eighth in the country.
• BC started Hockey East play 5-0-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
#KELLER4KAZ
• Megan Keller leads all defensemen nationally in scoring with 43 points on 19 goals and 24 assists.
• The senior leads all defenders in goals, points, goals per game (0.53), points per game (1.19), game-winning goals (5) and power-play goals (7).
• Colgate's Skylar Fontaine with 34 points and Cornell's Jaime Bourbonnais with 1.00 points per game sit second to Keller in those categories.
• Among all skaters in the country, Keller ranks in the top 20 in points (t-14th), goals (t-19th), assists (t-17th), power-play points (t-13th), power-play goals (t-2nd) game-winning goals (t-8th), points per game (17th) and plus/minus (7thth).
• Keller has 120 shots on goal and is averaging 3.33 shots on goal per game, with those numbers ranking third and tied for fourth, respectively, among defenders.
• She has registered at least one point in 28 of her 36 games played and has 11 multi-point outings on the year.
• The Farmington Hills, Mich. native set a new Hockey East single-season points record for a defender on Jan. 25 against Providence and set the single-season goals record on Feb. 8 versus UNH.
• With the goal against the Wildcats, she became the sixth player in program history to hit 150 career points.
• She had a 16-21-37 scoring line in conference play, good for a tie for third overall.
• She was named the Hockey East Player of the Month for January ... it was the first time a defenseman has been named Player of the Month since she took home the honor for February 2017.
TOP-3 FINALISTÂ
• Megan Keller was named one of the Top-3 Finalists for the 2019 Patty Kazmaier Award on Feb. 28.
• It's the first time since 2013 that a defender has been tabbed as one of the three finalists and just the eighth time in the history of the award.
• BC can now claim five Top-3 finalists in program history: Kelli Stack in 2011, Alex Carpenter in 2015 (winner) and 2016, Daryl Watts in 2018 (winner) and now Keller.
• On Feb. 21, she was named a Top-10 Finalist for the third time in her career (2016, 2017, 2019).
• She is just the second defenseman to be a three-time finalist for the award, joining four-time finalist and 2004 winner Angela Ruggiero of Harvard.
• Keller was the only defender among this year's Top-10 finalists, a group that included eight forwards and one goaltender.
THOSE NORTHEASTERN GAMES . . .
• After falling, 5-4, in overtime in the first meeting on Nov. 27, BC met Northeastern in a home-and-home Jan. 11-12, with each squad getting a home win.
• No. 3 Northeastern scored three goals in the first period paved the way for a 4-1 win at Matthews Arena.
• The then No. 10 Eagles blocked a season-high 26 shots in front of Maddy McArthur, who finished with 25 saves to Aerin Frankel's 29.
• On Saturday, BC erupted for seven goals and held on a for a 7-5 win ... it was BC's first win over a Top 3 team since beating No. 3 Quinnipiac, 2-1, on Jan. 24, 2015.
• BC had three goals in the first period - including two from Megan Keller - for the first time this season ... all seven goals were at even strength.
• McArthur earned her first career assist in the win.
• In the BC win, the Eagles became the first team this season to take a three-goal lead on the Huskies.
• The teams met again in the Beanpot consolation game, with BC earning a 4-1 win.
• Until a 1-0 Northeastern win vs. Vermont on March 9, BC was the only team to hold Northeastern to less than two goals in a game ... it was just the fourth time this season that Northeastern gave up four-plus goal, with BC holding three of those contests.
HOCKEY EAST AWARDS HAUL
• Megan Keller was named the Player of the Year for the second time in her career ... she is BC's third multi-time Hockey East Player of the Year recipient (Kelli Stack 2007, 2009, 2011; Alex Carpenter 2013, 2015) ... BC is the only school with repeat winners.
• Keller was also named the league's Best Defenseman, the third time in her career she earned that honor...BC has now won seven consecutive Best Defenseman awards.
• Additionally, Keller earned the Three Stars Award.
• Makenna Newkirk was named the Best Defensive Forward ... she's BC's second-ever winner of the award (Taylor Wasylk 2014).
• Kelly Browne and Cayla Barnes pushed BC's all-time honorees to the All-Rookie team to 20 with their selections ... Barnes was a unanimous pick.
• Keller earned a unanimous selection to the First Team.
• Daryl Watts earned a spot on the Second Team.
• Three Eagles in Barnes, Kali Flanagan and Caitrin Lonergan earned Third Team nods.
• Newkirk was tabbed for the All-Star HonorableÂ
