BC Heads to Clarkson for NCAA Quarterfinal

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The No. 5/5 Boston College women's hockey team will embark on the program's 11th NCAA Tournament journey when it travels to No. 4/4 Clarkson on Saturday for a quarterfinal tilt at Cheel Arena.

This is the fourth time that the Eagles and Golden Knights have met in the NCAA Tournament, with BC holding the 2-1-0 against Clarkson, including a 1-1 mark in the quarterfinal round and a 1-0 mark in the semifinal. This is the first meeting between the two teams since BC's 3-2 overtime win in the 2016 NCAA Tournament semifinal. Six current Eagles and six current Golden Knights skated in that meeting.

Boston College (26-11-1 received an at-large bid to the 2019 NCAA Tournament and enters Saturday ranked fifth in the nation. The Eagles lost an overtime heartbreaker to No. 3 Northeastern in the Hockey East Tournament title game on March 10, 3-2. Kali Flanagan had scored with 4.9 seconds left in the third to force overtime but Kasidy Anderson struck with seven minutes left in the first extra period for the win. That loss ended BC's eight-game unbeaten streak. The Eagles are 12-2-1 over the last 15, which ties with Clarkson and Minnesota for the best mark in the nation over the last 15 games. Daryl Watts (21-26-47) 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.

Fourth-ranked Clarkson (29-7-2) received the ECAC Hockey automatic bid to the tournament after topping Cornell, 4-1, on Saturday for a third-consecutive league tournament title. The Golden Knights finished tied for second in the ECAC Hockey regular-season standings with a 16-5-1 record in conference play. Clarkson is led up top by two Top-10 Patty Kazmaier Award Finalists and three of the top five scorers in the nation overall in Loren Gabel (40-29-69), Elizabeth Giguere (25-47-72) and Michaela Pejzlova (19-35-54). Gabel, a Top-3 Patty Kazmaier Finalist for the second consecutive year, leads the country in game-winning goals with 11.

NCAA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL | GAME 39
No. 5/5 Boston College (26-11-1) at No. 4/4 Clarkson (29-7-2)
Cheel Arena | Potsdam, N.Y.
Saturday, March 16, 2019 | 2:00 p.m.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• Boston College and Clarkson have met three times before in the NCAA Tournament ... BC is 2-1-0 against Clarkson in the national tournament with a 1-1 mark in the quarterfinal round and a 1-0 mark in the semifinal.
• This is the first meeting between the two teams since BC's 3-2 overtime win in the 2016 NCAA Tournament semifinal ... six current Eagles and six current Golden Knights skated in that meeting.
• BC is making its 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and ninth consecutive ... the Eagles are 9-10 all-time in the NCAAs and 7-3 in the quarterfinal round ... BC is 1-2 in road quarterfinal tilts.
• A win Saturday would send Boston College to its fourth-ever Frozen Four.
• Megan Keller was named the Hockey East Player of the Year last week for the second time in her career ... she is also a Patty Kazmaier Top-3 Finalist ... 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.
• Against No. 3 Northeastern in the Hockey East Championship game, Keller became the 11th player in program history to skate in her 150th career game ... Ryan Little and Kali Flanagan both sit at 156 career games played, tied for second-place all-time in program history in career games played ... Kenzie Kent is tops all-time with 157.
• The Eagles have out-shot the opponent in 27 consecutive games entering Saturday ... Lindsay Agnew has registered at least one shot on goal in all of BC's 38 games.
• Daryl Watts has registered a point in six straight games, earning multiple points in four of them ... Delaney Belinskas also has a six-game point streak ... Caitrin Lonergan and Kelly Browne both have four-game point streaks.

ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE
• Boston College received an at-large bid to the 2019 NCAA Tournament and enters Saturday ranked fifth in the nation.
• The Eagles lost an overtime heartbreaker to No. 3 Northeastern in the Hockey East Tournament title game on March 10, 3-2 ... Kali Flanagan had scored with 4.9 seconds left in the third to force overtime but Kasidy Anderson struck with seven minutes left in the first extra period for the win.
• That loss ended BC's eight-game unbeaten streak ... the Eagles are 7-2-1 over the last 10 games and 12-2-1 over the last 15 ... BC's 12-2-1 mark ties with Clarkson and Minnesota for the best mark in the nation over the last 15 games.
• Daryl Watts (21-26-47) 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 (23-10-1, .911 save percentage, 2.01 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.
• The Eagles played two games against an ECAC Hockey school this season, earning a pair of 2-1 overtime wins in October over then No. 10 St. Lawrence.
• BC finished second overall in the Hockey East regular season standings at 19-7-1.

ABOUT CLARKSON
• The fourth-ranked Golden Knights received the ECAC Hockey automatic bid to the tournament after topping Cornell, 4-1, for a third-consecutive league tournament title.
• Clarkson sits at 29-7-2 overall, one win away from the program's fourth straight 30-win season ... the Golden Knights finished tied for second in the ECAC Hockey regular-season standings with a 16-5-1 record in conference play.
• The Golden Knights are led up top by two Top-10 Patty Kazmaier Award Finalists and three of the top five scorers in the nation overall in Loren Gabel (40-29-69), Elizabeth Giguere (25-47-72) and Michaela Pejzlova (19-35-54).
• Gabel, a Top-3 Patty Kazmaier Finalist for the second consecutive year, leads the country in game-winning goals with 11.
• Clarkson is third in the country in team offense (3.71), team defense (1.76) and scoring margin (1.95).
• Matt Desrosiers is in his 11th year as head coach of the Golden Knights.
• The Golden Knights are 10-4 in the NCAA Tournament, including a mark of 4-3 in the quarterfinals.
• Clarkson has played five overtime games in the last eight outings, going 2-2-1 in those tilts ... CU is 3-3-2 in overtime on the season.
• Over the last three seasons, Clarkson has showed resiliency in only losing twice in a season to a team on two occasions: Wisconsin in 2016-17 (2-3 OT, 1-4) and Colgate in 2018-19 (1-4, 3-4 OT, 2-0).

BC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• This is the 11th NCAA Tournament appearance for Boston College ... BC's 11 appearances are tied for the fourth-most in NCAA Tournament history ... this year marks Minnesota's 16th appearance (most) followed by Wisconsin with 13, Mercyhurst with 12 and Harvard and Minnesota Duluth each with 11.
• The Eagles have a mark of 9-10 in the tournament.
• BC is 7-3 in the quarterfinal round, 1-6 in the semifinals and 0-1 in the championship game.
• In road tournament games, the Eagles have gone 1-3 including a 1-2 mark in road quarterfinal tilts.
• This is the ninth consecutive appearance in the tournament for BC.

TOP EAGLES IN THE TOURNEY
• Megan Keller is BC's current leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament, picking up one goal and four assists for five points in seven games.
• Fellow captain Makenna Newkirk has three points on two goals and one assist in six career tourney tilts.
• In all, eight current BC players have at least one point in the NCAA tournament.
• Haley Skaurpa '16 is BC's all-time leading scorer in the tournament with a 5-9-14 line in eight games.

IT'S WORTH NOTING
• The Eagles surrender 22.92 shots on goal per game, fourth 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 third in the country in rookie face-off wins with 326.
• 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 point of the season and one of eight to close out the regular season.
• As a team, BC is one of seven in the country to have at least 300 points ... the Eagles have combined for 358 points (131-227-358).
• Megan Keller has registered at least one point in 28 of her 37 games played this season and has 11 multi-point outings.
• Caitrin Lonergan's .610 face-off winning percentage is 10th in the country.
• Daryl Watts is 11th in the country with an average of 4.68 shots on goal per game while Lonergan is 16th with an average of 4.58.
• Among forwards, Newkirk's 56 blocks leads all of Hockey East and is eighth in the country.

BC Heads to Clarkson for NCAA Quarterfinal

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Players Mentioned

Lindsay Agnew

Molly Barrow

Delaney Belinskas

Kelly Browne

Kali Flanagan

Megan Keller

Kenzie Kent

Ryan Little

Caitrin Lonergan

Maddy McArthur

Makenna Newkirk

Kelly Pickreign

Daryl Watts