Friday, March 22
Boston, MA
7:30 PM
Boston College
vs
UMass
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Eagles and Top Seed UMass Meet in Hockey East Semifinal
March 21, 2019 | Men's Hockey
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College makes its fourth straight appearance in the Hockey East Semifinal on Friday (March 22) at 7:30 p.m. as the seventh-seeded Eagles face No. 1 seed UMass for a berth in the 35th Championship Game. BC won back-to-back elimination games on the road last weekend in the Quarterfinals against No. 2 seed and seventh-ranked Providence at Schneider Arena to advance to TD Garden.
No. 3 seed Northeastern and No. 5 seed Boston University will face off in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. Both games will air live on NESNplus and pay-per-view online at FloHockey.TV. Radio coverage for BC vs. UMass begins 15 minutes prior to faceoff on WEEI 850 AM and BCEagles.com.Â
Boston College and UMass are meeting for the 10th time in tournament history, but this is the first-ever meeting between the schools beyond the quarterfinal round. The Eagles are 8-1 in nine previous playoff matchups with the Minutemen, including four quarterfinal sweeps. Their only loss came in a play-in game at the end of the 1994-95 season between the No. 8 and 9 seeds.
THEN THERE WERE FOURÂ Â Â
• Boston College is making its 25th all-time appearance in the Hockey East Semifinal, which is tied for the most in tournament history with rival Boston University
• The Eagles are 17-7 in 24 previous semifinal appearances, but they fell 4-3 to BU in overtime last year
• The last time Boston College was the higher seed in a semifinal matchup was also against BU in 2017 when the third-seeded Eagles beat the second-seeded Terriers 3-2
• BC has reached eight semifinals in the last 10 years and 13 of the last 15 overall, going 8-4 in the previous 12
• The only times that Boston College has missed the Garden in the last decade are 2014 and 2015
YORK IN THE TOURNEY
• Jerry York's nine Hockey East Tournament titles (1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012) are the gold standard in Hockey East; BU's Jack Parker is second with seven
• With a 62-22-1 (.735) overall record in the Hockey East Tournament, York is one victory from becoming the all-time winningest coach in tournament history; he is currently tied with Parker at 62 wins in 13 less games
• Boston College has advanced to the semifinal round of the league tournament in 14 of the last 20 seasons under York (his first semifinal showing was in 1997) and 12 Hockey East Championship Games
TOURNAMENT TIDBITS
• Boston College is chasing a league-record 12th Hockey East Championship and its first since 2012
• BC has won the most Hockey East tournament titles in league history with 11 (1987, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012)
• The Eagles also own the most Hockey East Championship Game appearances in conference history with 17 (1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017)
• This is just the second time in Hockey East Tournament history that BC has been the No. 7 seed
• Last weekend, the Eagles were playing away from home in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2009 and only the second time in the last two decades
• Boston College's last Championship Game appearance came in 2017 against UMass Lowell
IT'S AN HONOR
• Junior David Cotton was named a First Team Hockey East All-Star on Wednesday, while senior captain Casey Fitzgerald received Honorable Mention All-Star recognition
• Cotton is the first Eagle to garner Hockey East First Team honors since Thatcher Demko and Casey's older brother Ryan Fitzgerald were both named in 2016
• Cotton leads Hockey East this season with a career-high 21 goals, ranks seventh nationally in goals per game, and has also posted a team-best eight multi-point games to rank 13th in Hockey East
• The 2018 Hockey East Best Defensive Defenseman, Fitzgerald is second among Boston College defensemen in scoring this season with 13 points, including a team-high eight assists on the power play
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
• After clinching its first Hockey East Regular Season Championship and the top overall seed, UMass enters the Semifinal with a program-record 28 wins
• Massachusetts trails only St. Cloud State in the PairWise Rankings
• The Minutemen swept UNH in the Quarterfinals at home last weekend with a 5-4 double overtime win in Game 1, followed by a 6-0 shutout in Game 2
• Avalanche first round pick Cale Makar leads the team with 31 assists and 46 points, while St. Lawrence transfer Jacob Pritchard is one back with 45 points
• Mitchell Chaffee paces the squad with 17 goals and has added 24 helpers
• Between the pipes, sophomore Matt Murray has started 27 games and owns a 20-5-0 record, 2.11 GAA and .919 SV% with one shutout
• UMass has the best combined special teams in the nation (58.3%), clicking at 29.1% on the power play and 86.9% on the kill
SERIES HISTORY
• BC entered the season riding an eight-game winning streak against UMass with a 44-12 scoring margin during that span, but it lost both regular season meetings to the Minutemen in a home-and-home last month
• Boston College suffered its first loss at the Mullins Center in more than seven years on Feb. 15 as the game-winner came with just 2.3 seconds on the clock
• The following night, UMass earned a 4-2 win at a sold out Kelley Rink
• The Eagles hadn't been beat at home by Massachusetts since Jan. 18, 2013 and held a 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) until this season
• Boston College still leads the overall series with UMass 63-15-3 and holds a 27-6-1 head-to-head advantage dating back to 2008
BUZZER BEATER IN AMHERST
• Jake McLaughlin's one-timer with 2.3 seconds left in the third period gave then-No. 2 UMass a dramatic 4-3 Hockey East victory over Boston College at the Mullins Center on Feb. 15
• With the game tied at three in the closing seconds, Joseph Woll lost his stick at the right post on a goalmouth scramble as Mitchell Chaffee curled around the net with the loose puck to set up McLaughlin for the game-winner
• Defensemen Casey Fitzgerald and Connor Moore gave Boston College a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Cale Makar cut the lead in half just 30 seconds later as he finished a 2-on-1 rush with Chaffee
• UMass netted the only two goals of the middle frame, but David Cotton located a rebound on the power play near the left post with 6:49 remaining to tie the game on his team-best 17th of the year
• Christopher Brown and Ben Finkelstein each finished the night with two assists
McPHEE's DOUBLE NOT ENOUGH
• The series shifted back to a sold out Kelley Rink on Feb. 16 as Massachusetts scored three times in the second period and added an empty-netter in the final 30 seconds for a 4-2 win to sweep the series
• Graham McPhee scored both BC goals, while Brown assisted on each tally to finish the weekend with four points
• Down 1-0 after 20 minutes, UMass carried a power play into the second period and John Leonard tied the game 42 seconds in, going top shelf from the Boston College slot
• Oliver Chau gave the Minutemen their first lead at 1:50 as he spun a shot short side on Woll (27 saves)
• Massachusetts pushed its lead to 3-1 on Jacob Pritchard's weak angle effort at 12:05, but McPhee struck again to answer on the power play less than two minutes later
CHASING 600
• Jerry York is one win away from 600 during his 25-year tenure at his alma mater
• He would become just the fourth Division I coach ever to win 600 games at the same school (897 – Jack Parker, BU | 848 – Red Berenson, Michigan | 635 – Ron Mason, Michigan State)
• York has led Boston College to 12 NCAA Frozen Fours with four national titles (2001, 2008, 2010, 2012), nine Beanpot trophies, and nine Hockey East Tournament titles during his tenure
• College hockey's all-time winningest coach with 1,066 victories, York signed a multi-year extension earlier this season to remain BC's head coach through at least the 2021-22 campaign
MONKEY OFF THE BACK
• Several offensive droughts came to a close for Boston College at a key time last weekend against Providence
• Logan Hutsko snapped a 19-game goal drought with his overtime winner 23 seconds into the extra session in Game 2 of the series, his first tally since Dec. 6 in a road win at UConn
• Julius Mattila's extra attacker goal to force OT in Game 2 was his first in 12 games dating back to a home win against Providence on Jan. 11 (he also missed five games to injury during that span)
• Mattila had a point in all three games last weekend and is riding a five-game playoff point streak
• Michael Kim had five points in the Quarterfinal series to lead the team, snapping a 13-game pointless streak for the senior defensemen which dated back to late January
• Heading into March, Marc McLaughlin had only one goal, but the rookie has scored three times in his last six games including a tally in Games 1 and 2 of the Hockey East Quarterfinals
IRON MEN
• Senior captains Christopher Brown and Casey Fitzgerald are each set to skate in career game No. 150 in the Hockey East Semifinal, becoming the 46th and 47th BC players to skate in 150 NCAA games
• Reaching 150 contests will move both captains into the top-50 all-time in games played at BC
• The duo has combined to miss just 12 games in their respective careers
• The last Eagles to reach the 150 plateau were Casey's older brother Ryan and Austin Cangelosi in 2017
• Fellow senior JD Dudek skated in his 147th career game last Sunday in Game 3 of the Providence series
UP NEXT
• The 35th Hockey East Championship Game is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday (March 23) at TD Garden
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No. 3 seed Northeastern and No. 5 seed Boston University will face off in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. Both games will air live on NESNplus and pay-per-view online at FloHockey.TV. Radio coverage for BC vs. UMass begins 15 minutes prior to faceoff on WEEI 850 AM and BCEagles.com.Â
Boston College and UMass are meeting for the 10th time in tournament history, but this is the first-ever meeting between the schools beyond the quarterfinal round. The Eagles are 8-1 in nine previous playoff matchups with the Minutemen, including four quarterfinal sweeps. Their only loss came in a play-in game at the end of the 1994-95 season between the No. 8 and 9 seeds.
THEN THERE WERE FOURÂ Â Â
• Boston College is making its 25th all-time appearance in the Hockey East Semifinal, which is tied for the most in tournament history with rival Boston University
• The Eagles are 17-7 in 24 previous semifinal appearances, but they fell 4-3 to BU in overtime last year
• The last time Boston College was the higher seed in a semifinal matchup was also against BU in 2017 when the third-seeded Eagles beat the second-seeded Terriers 3-2
• BC has reached eight semifinals in the last 10 years and 13 of the last 15 overall, going 8-4 in the previous 12
• The only times that Boston College has missed the Garden in the last decade are 2014 and 2015
YORK IN THE TOURNEY
• Jerry York's nine Hockey East Tournament titles (1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012) are the gold standard in Hockey East; BU's Jack Parker is second with seven
• With a 62-22-1 (.735) overall record in the Hockey East Tournament, York is one victory from becoming the all-time winningest coach in tournament history; he is currently tied with Parker at 62 wins in 13 less games
• Boston College has advanced to the semifinal round of the league tournament in 14 of the last 20 seasons under York (his first semifinal showing was in 1997) and 12 Hockey East Championship Games
TOURNAMENT TIDBITS
• Boston College is chasing a league-record 12th Hockey East Championship and its first since 2012
• BC has won the most Hockey East tournament titles in league history with 11 (1987, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012)
• The Eagles also own the most Hockey East Championship Game appearances in conference history with 17 (1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017)
• This is just the second time in Hockey East Tournament history that BC has been the No. 7 seed
• Last weekend, the Eagles were playing away from home in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2009 and only the second time in the last two decades
• Boston College's last Championship Game appearance came in 2017 against UMass Lowell
IT'S AN HONOR
• Junior David Cotton was named a First Team Hockey East All-Star on Wednesday, while senior captain Casey Fitzgerald received Honorable Mention All-Star recognition
• Cotton is the first Eagle to garner Hockey East First Team honors since Thatcher Demko and Casey's older brother Ryan Fitzgerald were both named in 2016
• Cotton leads Hockey East this season with a career-high 21 goals, ranks seventh nationally in goals per game, and has also posted a team-best eight multi-point games to rank 13th in Hockey East
• The 2018 Hockey East Best Defensive Defenseman, Fitzgerald is second among Boston College defensemen in scoring this season with 13 points, including a team-high eight assists on the power play
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
• After clinching its first Hockey East Regular Season Championship and the top overall seed, UMass enters the Semifinal with a program-record 28 wins
• Massachusetts trails only St. Cloud State in the PairWise Rankings
• The Minutemen swept UNH in the Quarterfinals at home last weekend with a 5-4 double overtime win in Game 1, followed by a 6-0 shutout in Game 2
• Avalanche first round pick Cale Makar leads the team with 31 assists and 46 points, while St. Lawrence transfer Jacob Pritchard is one back with 45 points
• Mitchell Chaffee paces the squad with 17 goals and has added 24 helpers
• Between the pipes, sophomore Matt Murray has started 27 games and owns a 20-5-0 record, 2.11 GAA and .919 SV% with one shutout
• UMass has the best combined special teams in the nation (58.3%), clicking at 29.1% on the power play and 86.9% on the kill
SERIES HISTORY
• BC entered the season riding an eight-game winning streak against UMass with a 44-12 scoring margin during that span, but it lost both regular season meetings to the Minutemen in a home-and-home last month
• Boston College suffered its first loss at the Mullins Center in more than seven years on Feb. 15 as the game-winner came with just 2.3 seconds on the clock
• The following night, UMass earned a 4-2 win at a sold out Kelley Rink
• The Eagles hadn't been beat at home by Massachusetts since Jan. 18, 2013 and held a 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) until this season
• Boston College still leads the overall series with UMass 63-15-3 and holds a 27-6-1 head-to-head advantage dating back to 2008
BUZZER BEATER IN AMHERST
• Jake McLaughlin's one-timer with 2.3 seconds left in the third period gave then-No. 2 UMass a dramatic 4-3 Hockey East victory over Boston College at the Mullins Center on Feb. 15
• With the game tied at three in the closing seconds, Joseph Woll lost his stick at the right post on a goalmouth scramble as Mitchell Chaffee curled around the net with the loose puck to set up McLaughlin for the game-winner
• Defensemen Casey Fitzgerald and Connor Moore gave Boston College a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Cale Makar cut the lead in half just 30 seconds later as he finished a 2-on-1 rush with Chaffee
• UMass netted the only two goals of the middle frame, but David Cotton located a rebound on the power play near the left post with 6:49 remaining to tie the game on his team-best 17th of the year
• Christopher Brown and Ben Finkelstein each finished the night with two assists
McPHEE's DOUBLE NOT ENOUGH
• The series shifted back to a sold out Kelley Rink on Feb. 16 as Massachusetts scored three times in the second period and added an empty-netter in the final 30 seconds for a 4-2 win to sweep the series
• Graham McPhee scored both BC goals, while Brown assisted on each tally to finish the weekend with four points
• Down 1-0 after 20 minutes, UMass carried a power play into the second period and John Leonard tied the game 42 seconds in, going top shelf from the Boston College slot
• Oliver Chau gave the Minutemen their first lead at 1:50 as he spun a shot short side on Woll (27 saves)
• Massachusetts pushed its lead to 3-1 on Jacob Pritchard's weak angle effort at 12:05, but McPhee struck again to answer on the power play less than two minutes later
CHASING 600
• Jerry York is one win away from 600 during his 25-year tenure at his alma mater
• He would become just the fourth Division I coach ever to win 600 games at the same school (897 – Jack Parker, BU | 848 – Red Berenson, Michigan | 635 – Ron Mason, Michigan State)
• York has led Boston College to 12 NCAA Frozen Fours with four national titles (2001, 2008, 2010, 2012), nine Beanpot trophies, and nine Hockey East Tournament titles during his tenure
• College hockey's all-time winningest coach with 1,066 victories, York signed a multi-year extension earlier this season to remain BC's head coach through at least the 2021-22 campaign
MONKEY OFF THE BACK
• Several offensive droughts came to a close for Boston College at a key time last weekend against Providence
• Logan Hutsko snapped a 19-game goal drought with his overtime winner 23 seconds into the extra session in Game 2 of the series, his first tally since Dec. 6 in a road win at UConn
• Julius Mattila's extra attacker goal to force OT in Game 2 was his first in 12 games dating back to a home win against Providence on Jan. 11 (he also missed five games to injury during that span)
• Mattila had a point in all three games last weekend and is riding a five-game playoff point streak
• Michael Kim had five points in the Quarterfinal series to lead the team, snapping a 13-game pointless streak for the senior defensemen which dated back to late January
• Heading into March, Marc McLaughlin had only one goal, but the rookie has scored three times in his last six games including a tally in Games 1 and 2 of the Hockey East Quarterfinals
IRON MEN
• Senior captains Christopher Brown and Casey Fitzgerald are each set to skate in career game No. 150 in the Hockey East Semifinal, becoming the 46th and 47th BC players to skate in 150 NCAA games
• Reaching 150 contests will move both captains into the top-50 all-time in games played at BC
• The duo has combined to miss just 12 games in their respective careers
• The last Eagles to reach the 150 plateau were Casey's older brother Ryan and Austin Cangelosi in 2017
• Fellow senior JD Dudek skated in his 147th career game last Sunday in Game 3 of the Providence series
UP NEXT
• The 35th Hockey East Championship Game is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday (March 23) at TD Garden
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