Second-Ranked Eagles Close First Semester Against UConn

BOSTON – Second-ranked Boston College faces UConn in the opening game of a home-and-home series on Friday (Dec. 11) at Kelley Rink on NESN at 6 p.m. The Eagles close the series and semester on Saturday (Dec. 12) at 3:30 p.m. from the Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs on FOX affiliate CW20 in Connecticut.

Fans outside New England can watch both games for free on CollegeSportsLive.com/HockeyEast. Radio coverage on WEEI 850 AM and BCEagles.com begins 15 minutes prior to faceoff for each contest with Jon Rish and Andy Powers on the call.

The Eagles are 4-0 for the first time in 18 years after home-and-home sweeps of No. 7 UMass and No. 12 Providence over the last two weekends. Boston College looks to extend a five-game winning streak against Mike Cavanaugh's Huskies.

FAST START
• Boston College has posted its first perfect 4-0-0 start to a season since 2002
• That year, the Eagles won their first five games and were unbeaten in their first nine (8-0-1)
• 2002-03 was also the last time that BC scored 22 goals in its first four games

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• UConn will play its third and fourth games of the young season this weekend
• The Huskies fell 5-1 at UMass on Nov. 20 on opening night but tied the Minutemen 2-2 on Nov. 21 at the Freitas Ice Forum
• UConn won a four-round shootout 2-1, which could result in an extra league point later in the season depending on scheduling
• Connecticut finished last season at .500 overall (15-15-4) but had a winning record (12-10-2) in Hockey East play, going 6-3-0 over its last nine games
• Senior Ben Freeman led the team in scoring with 21 assists and 28 points
• As a sophomore, Tomáš Vomáčka posted a 15-15-3 record in 33 starts with a 3.13 GAA and .898 SV%
• UConn clicked at just 13.5% on the power play and 71.8% on the penalty kill, finishing with the third-worst combined special teams in the nation (42.5%)
• Mike Cavanaugh, who spent 18 years at Boston College as an assistant to Jerry York, begins his eighth season as the head coach in Storrs

LAST YEAR'S SERIES
• The most recent meeting at Kelley Rink was won 6-0 by BC on Nov. 8, 2019
• As freshmen, Alex Newhook scored a pair of goals and Spencer Knight stopped all 30 shots he faced for the shutout
• It was the debut for the program's throwback jerseys modeled after those worn by the Eagles during the 1960-61 and 1961-62 seasons
• It was the also first time that Jerry York's squad has scored more than three goals at home against UConn
• Led by a hat trick from Aapeli Räsänen, the Eagles posted a 5-1 road victory the following night and improved to 5-2-0 all-time at the XL Center

SERIES HISTORY
• Friday night will mark the 15th all-time meeting in the series, which Boston College leads 11-2-1
• BC has won five straight meetings by the combined score of 23-6
• The Eagles are undefeated against UConn in Chestnut Hill (6-0-1), though the first six matchups at Conte Forum were decided by a total of six goals
• BC earned 4-0 and 5-3 road victories in two separate road trips to Hartford during the 2018-19 season
• Saturday will mark BC's first-ever visit to the Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs

PROVIDENCE SWEEP
• Boston College out-scored No. 12 Providence 12-0 last weekend in a sweep
• Freshman Trevor Kuntar scored his first career goal and Spencer Knight posted his sixth career shutout in a 3-0 blanking of the Friars to open the series on Friday at Conte Forum
• Rookie Nikita Nesterenko netted his second goal of the year to extend the lead in the third, while Mike Hardman added his third tally on an empty-netter in the closing seconds
• The Eagles dominated the Friars 9-0 in the series finale on Saturday in Providence
• Matt Boldy, Colby Ambrosio and Kuntar all had two-goal performances for BC and a total of nine Eagles finished with multi-point games
• Knight posted his second straight shutout with 36 saves, and Boston College's penalty kill was 7-for-7 with three shorthanded goals

SHARING IS CARING
• Sophomores Matt Boldy and Spencer Knight shared the Hockey East Player of the Week Award on Monday following a dominant home-and-home sweep of No. 12 Providence
• Boldy earned Player of the Week honors for the second straight week after posting four points on two goals and two assists against the Friars, finishing the series with a plus-4 rating
• Knight posted back-to-back shutouts for the Eagles with 66 saves, extending his shutout streak to 132 minutes and his unbeaten streak to 13 straight games (12-0-1) dating back to last season

CLEAN SHEETS
• Last weekend, Spencer Knight collected his sixth and seventh career shutouts, moving past Joe Carroll '54 and Parker Milner '12 into sixth place all-time in program history
• With his next clean sheet, Knight would tie Jack Fitzgerald '25 and Matti Kaltiainen '05 for fourth place all-time with eight shutouts
• Knight closed his freshman campaign tied for third in the NCAA with five shutouts
• No Eagle has registered three straight shutouts since Thatcher Demko in 2015-16 when he set a school record with 10

MILESTONE WATCH
• Logan Hutsko needs three points to become the 83rd member of the 100-point club at BC
• Jerry York needs five wins to reach 1,100 in his 49 years as a Division I head coach
• Jack McBain will skate in his 75th collegiate game on Saturday
• Spencer Knight needs two saves to reach 1,000 in his Eagle career

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS
• Boston College's 9-goal explosion last Saturday at Providence was its highest output since netting 10 against Northeastern in a 10-1 win on Feb. 21 of last season
• It was the first time scoring exactly nine goals in a game since a 9-2 win over Wisconsin more than seven years ago on Oct. 18, 2013
• The Eagles, who own a dominant 22-6 goal differential (+16) this season, ranked third in the country last year in scoring margin with a +65 differential

BALANCED ATTACK
• Through four games, BC has nine different players averaging at least a point-per-game
• Nine players have scored at least one goal and 15 players have at least one point
• The Eagles' team-lead in goals (3) is shared by six players
• Five members of the rookie class have already posted their first NCAA point

WORLD JUNIOR HOPEFULS
• Three Americans (Spencer Knight, Matt Boldy, Drew Helleson) and one Canadian (Alex Newhook) are currently competing in camps for a chance to represent their countries at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championships (Dec. 25 - Jan. 5 in Edmonton, Alberta)
• Knight was the starting goalie for Team USA at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic as the U.S. fell to Finland in the quarterfinals
• 35 Eagles have competed in World Junior play during head coach Jerry York's tenure

UP NEXT
• Boston College opens the second semester with a home-and-home against Northeastern on Jan. 8-9, 2021

Second-Ranked Eagles Close First Semester Against UConn

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Players Mentioned

Colby Ambrosio

Matt Boldy

Mike Hardman

Drew Helleson

Logan Hutsko

Spencer Knight

Trevor Kuntar

Jack McBain

Nikita Nesterenko

Alex Newhook