Boston College Athletics

Photo by: John Quackenbos
No. 2 Eagles Open 2020-21 Season Against No. 7 UMass
November 25, 2020 | Men's Hockey
Boston College and UMass face off at 6 p.m. Friday on NESN at Kelley Rink
BOSTON – Reigning Hockey East regular season champion and second-ranked Boston College begins its 99th season of men's hockey on Friday (Nov. 27) as it welcomes No. 7 UMass to Kelley Rink at 6 p.m. on NESN. The schools close out the home-and-home series on Saturday (Nov. 28) in Amherst at 4:30 p.m. on NESN+.
The Eagles, who were originally scheduled to play Providence, had their season-opening series against New Hampshire postponed last weekend. Massachusetts earned a win and tie against UConn in a home-and-home last weekend, marking the first official games of the 2020-21 Hockey East season.
STREAMING INFORMATION
• Each game of the 2020-21 season will be streamed live online for free on one of several ViacomCBS Digital properties
• All games will be made available across the U.S. and internationally on SportsLive, while all games televised on NESN and NESN+ and other select matchups will also be available on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app outside of New England
• Games on NESN and NESN+ will be made available on ViacomCBS Digital platforms only outside of New England, while NESN, NESN+, and NESN's authenticated streaming service will provide coverage inside New England
• To watch games on SportsLive, fans can visit CollegeSportsLive.com and select "Hockey East" from the All Partners drop down menu
• If tuning in from outside New England and looking for a game on NESN or NESN+, fans should select "Hockey East on NESN" from the All Partners menu
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
• UMass beat UConn 5-1 at home last Friday to open the season, then tied the Huskies 2-2 in Storrs the following night but lost in a shootout
• Oliver Chau (1-2-3) and Bobby Trivigno (0-3-3) each had three-point series
• Massachusetts finished second in Hockey East last season at 14-8-2 and were picked second behind BC in the 2020 Hockey East Preseason Poll
• Amherst native John Leonard led the Minutemen with 27 goals and 37 points a year ago, while classmate Mitchell Chaffee recorded 29 points; both players signed professional contracts following their junior year
• Sophomore Filip Lindberg (17 GS, 8-5-2, 1.91 GAA, .927 SV%) and junior Matt Murray (17 GS, 13-6-0, 1.86, .919) split time between the pipes
• UMass clicked at 12.3% on the power play and 86.6% on the penalty kill
• Greg Carvel enters his fifth season as the head coach in Amherst
LAST YEAR'S SERIES
• BC won last year's regular season series against UMass 2-1-0, earning both of its wins at the Mullins Center in January
• Following a 3-1 (empty-netter) home loss on Jan. 10, the Eagles earned a 6-3 road win in Amherst the next night
• BC went 3-for-5 on the power play and had six different goal scorers and five multi-point performances against the top-ranked defense in Hockey East
• Boston College returned to the Mullins Center on Jan. 31 and shut out the Minutemen 3-0 behind 30 saves from Spencer Knight
• The win moved BC into a first place tie atop the Hockey East standings
• Logan Hutsko was the only player to score in both road victories
SERIES HISTORY
• Boston College leads the overall series with UMass 66-16-3 with a 30-7-1 head-to-head advantage dating back to 2008
• This weekend marks the 86th and 87th meetings in series history
• The Eagles have shut out UMass in two of the previous four meetings
• BC entered the 2018-19 season with an eight-game winning streak against UMass but lost both regular season meetings to the Minutemen
• The No. 7 seed Eagles responded by shutting out the top-seed Minutemen 3-0 at TD Garden in the 2019 Hockey East Semifinal
PRESEASON FAVORITE
• For the third straight season and fourth time in the last six years, Boston College has been selected as the preseason favorite in Hockey East according to the Coaches' Poll
• The Eagles received eight of a possible 11 first place votes and finished with a total of 95 points in the annual poll
• Massachusetts earned a pair of first place votes and ranked second overall with 87 points, while Providence was tabbed third with 77 points
• UMass Lowell (71) finished fourth in the poll and garnered the final first place vote, while Northeastern (68) and Boston University (55) ranked fifth and sixth respectively
• UConn (48), UNH (44), Maine (27), Merrimack (23) and Vermont (10) rounded out the poll
SEASON IN REVIEW
• The Eagles saw their 2019-20 season come to a premature end due to COVID-19 prior to their Hockey East Quarterfinal series with 8-seed Providence in March
• BC (8-0-1) closed the season with the second-longest unbeaten streak in the nation
• Boston College was sixth in the Pairwise rankings entering the Hockey East Tournament
• Jerry York's squad finished with a record of 24-8-2 overall and 17-6-1 in conference play
UP NEXT
• Boston College is scheduled to face No. 11 UMass Lowell in a home-and-home series next weekend, beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday night at Tsongas Center
The Eagles, who were originally scheduled to play Providence, had their season-opening series against New Hampshire postponed last weekend. Massachusetts earned a win and tie against UConn in a home-and-home last weekend, marking the first official games of the 2020-21 Hockey East season.
STREAMING INFORMATION
• Each game of the 2020-21 season will be streamed live online for free on one of several ViacomCBS Digital properties
• All games will be made available across the U.S. and internationally on SportsLive, while all games televised on NESN and NESN+ and other select matchups will also be available on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app outside of New England
• Games on NESN and NESN+ will be made available on ViacomCBS Digital platforms only outside of New England, while NESN, NESN+, and NESN's authenticated streaming service will provide coverage inside New England
• To watch games on SportsLive, fans can visit CollegeSportsLive.com and select "Hockey East" from the All Partners drop down menu
• If tuning in from outside New England and looking for a game on NESN or NESN+, fans should select "Hockey East on NESN" from the All Partners menu
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
• UMass beat UConn 5-1 at home last Friday to open the season, then tied the Huskies 2-2 in Storrs the following night but lost in a shootout
• Oliver Chau (1-2-3) and Bobby Trivigno (0-3-3) each had three-point series
• Massachusetts finished second in Hockey East last season at 14-8-2 and were picked second behind BC in the 2020 Hockey East Preseason Poll
• Amherst native John Leonard led the Minutemen with 27 goals and 37 points a year ago, while classmate Mitchell Chaffee recorded 29 points; both players signed professional contracts following their junior year
• Sophomore Filip Lindberg (17 GS, 8-5-2, 1.91 GAA, .927 SV%) and junior Matt Murray (17 GS, 13-6-0, 1.86, .919) split time between the pipes
• UMass clicked at 12.3% on the power play and 86.6% on the penalty kill
• Greg Carvel enters his fifth season as the head coach in Amherst
LAST YEAR'S SERIES
• BC won last year's regular season series against UMass 2-1-0, earning both of its wins at the Mullins Center in January
• Following a 3-1 (empty-netter) home loss on Jan. 10, the Eagles earned a 6-3 road win in Amherst the next night
• BC went 3-for-5 on the power play and had six different goal scorers and five multi-point performances against the top-ranked defense in Hockey East
• Boston College returned to the Mullins Center on Jan. 31 and shut out the Minutemen 3-0 behind 30 saves from Spencer Knight
• The win moved BC into a first place tie atop the Hockey East standings
• Logan Hutsko was the only player to score in both road victories
SERIES HISTORY
• Boston College leads the overall series with UMass 66-16-3 with a 30-7-1 head-to-head advantage dating back to 2008
• This weekend marks the 86th and 87th meetings in series history
• The Eagles have shut out UMass in two of the previous four meetings
• BC entered the 2018-19 season with an eight-game winning streak against UMass but lost both regular season meetings to the Minutemen
• The No. 7 seed Eagles responded by shutting out the top-seed Minutemen 3-0 at TD Garden in the 2019 Hockey East Semifinal
PRESEASON FAVORITE
• For the third straight season and fourth time in the last six years, Boston College has been selected as the preseason favorite in Hockey East according to the Coaches' Poll
• The Eagles received eight of a possible 11 first place votes and finished with a total of 95 points in the annual poll
• Massachusetts earned a pair of first place votes and ranked second overall with 87 points, while Providence was tabbed third with 77 points
• UMass Lowell (71) finished fourth in the poll and garnered the final first place vote, while Northeastern (68) and Boston University (55) ranked fifth and sixth respectively
• UConn (48), UNH (44), Maine (27), Merrimack (23) and Vermont (10) rounded out the poll
SEASON IN REVIEW
• The Eagles saw their 2019-20 season come to a premature end due to COVID-19 prior to their Hockey East Quarterfinal series with 8-seed Providence in March
• BC (8-0-1) closed the season with the second-longest unbeaten streak in the nation
• Boston College was sixth in the Pairwise rankings entering the Hockey East Tournament
• Jerry York's squad finished with a record of 24-8-2 overall and 17-6-1 in conference play
UP NEXT
• Boston College is scheduled to face No. 11 UMass Lowell in a home-and-home series next weekend, beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday night at Tsongas Center
Players Mentioned
Men’s Hockey: Maine Press Conference (March 13, 2026)
Friday, March 13
Men's Hockey Recap: 5-0 Win vs. Maine (Hockey East Quarterfinals)
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Men’s Hockey: Northeastern Press Conference (Head Coach Greg Brown - March 7, 2026)
Saturday, March 07
Men's Hockey: Boston University Press Conference (Feb. 28, 2026)
Saturday, February 28





















