BC Set to Host UConn in Hockey East Quarterfinals

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Boston College women's hockey team will begin its quest for the program's fourth-ever Hockey East Tournament title this weekend when it hosts UConn in a best-of-three quarterfinal series. The fourth-seeded Eagles and fifth-seeded Huskies will play Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and, if necessary, on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Friday night's game will air live on NESNplus and CBS All Access while Saturday and the if-necessary game will be streamed on CBS All Access. More information on the Hockey East partnership can be found here.

Tickets for all games will be $5 and can be purchased here or at the Conte Forum Ticket Office (Gate B). Students will a valid ID can get in for free.

Boston College (16-14-3, 14-11-2 HEAW) enters Friday's game 2-3-0 in the last five games. Kelly Browne, who is third in the country with 416 face-off wins, has a team-leading 36 points on the year off of 13 goals and 23 assists. Hannah Bilka sits second on the team with 35 points on 13 goals and 22 assists while Delaney Belinskas has a team-leading 19 goals.

UConn (16-16-2, 13-12-3 HEAW) is led by Natalie Snodgrass; 31 points on 14 goals and 17 assists. UConn is 13-5-1 this season when Snodgrass has at least one point.

BC has an overall record of 23-11 all-time in the conference tournament. The Eagles and Huskies have met five times before in the conference tournament, including last year's quarterfinal series at Kelley Rink. With that two-game sweep last season, BC now holds a 4-1-0 record all-time against UConn in the Hockey East Tournament.

HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS (GAME 34, 35, 36*)
Boston College (16-14-3, 14-11-2 HEAW) vs. UConn (16-16-2, 13-12-3 HEAW)
Kelley Rink at Conte Forum | Chestnut Hill, Mass.
*if necessary, best-of-three-series

ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE
• BC finished the regular season with an overall record of 16-14-3 and a mark of 14-11-2 in Hockey East play to earn the fourth seed and home ice in the conference tournament.
• The Eagles capped the regular season last weekend with a single game at New Hampshire, falling to the Wildcats by a 5-1 score ... Kelly Browne scored the Eagles' lone goal in the loss.
• Browne, who is third in the country with 416 face-off wins, has a team-leading 36 points on the year off of 13 goals and 23 assists.
• Hannah Bilka sits second on the team with 35 points on 13 goals and 22 assists ... Bilka has a team-high five power-play goals on the year ... the freshman is averaging a team-high 1.13 points per game.
• Delaney Belinskas has a team-leading 19 goals for the Eagles and has three short-handed goals ... the senior also has a team-high 132 shots on goal.
• Eleven Eagles have at least 12 points while all 18 skaters have registered at least one point.
• BC is 7-0-1 this season when Bilka scores a goal ... the Eagles are 8-0-0 when Lindsay Agnew has at least one point and 10-0-0 when Hadley Hartmetz does ... BC has gone 9-2-0 when Savannah Norcross scores a goal and 8-2-2 when Belinskas does.
• Maddy McArthur is 10-10-3 in goal with a .906 save percentage, 2.58 goals against average and two shutouts ... Kelly Pickreign is 5-4-0 with a shutout, 2.82 goals against average and .909 save percentage.

ABOUT UCONN
• The Huskies finished the regular season with an overall record of 16-16-2 and 13-12-2 in Hockey East play.
• Natalie Snodgrass sits first on the team in goals (14), assists (17), points (31) and shots on goal (165) ... UConn is 9-2-1 when Snodgrass scores a goal and 13-5-1 when she has at least one point while going 3-11-1 when she is kept off the scoresheet.
• Nineteen Huskies have recorded points this season, with all 19 putting up at least four points.
• UConn went 1-4-0 in the last five games of the regular season and 4-5-1 in the last 10 games.
• Chris Mackenzie is in his eighth year has head coach of the Huskies in 2019-20.
• The Huskies were picked to finish sixth in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches Poll.

SERIES NOTES
• The Eagles lead the all-time series between the teams, 37-17-10 ... BC has a mark of 21-7-2 against the Huskies at Kelley Rink ... BC is 14-9-8 against UConn in Storrs and 2-1-0 in neutral site meetings.
• Thirteen current Eagles have registered at least one point against UConn, with Delaney Belinskas sporting a team-high seven points on three goals and four assist against the Huskies ... she scored two goals in a loss at UConn on Nov. 9, 2019.
• UConn won the regular season series at 2-1-0 ... on Nov. 9, the Huskies skated to a 5-2 win in Storrs in what was the first loss of the season for BC ... the teams then traded 2-1 road wins in a home-and-home series, with UConn winning on Nov. 22 at Kelley Rink and BC taking a 2-1 game on Nov. 23 in Storrs.
• BC swept the 2018-19 regular season series at 3-0-0 ... Maddy McArthur shutout the Huskies in all three regular season meetings that year ... the Eagles put up 3-0 and 4-0 wins at home as well as a 3-0 road win.
• The Eagles also swept the 2019 Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal series at 2-0-0 ... BC won the first game, 4-1, and then had a dramatic 5-4 overtime for the sweep.
• These two teams met in the 2018 Hockey East Tournament semifinal game, with UConn winning 4-2 to snap a 14-game BC unbeaten streak in the series.
• The Eagles are 18-1-1 at home vs. Connecticut since the 2007-08 season.

BC IN THE HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT
• Boston College is playing in its 15th Hockey East Tournament this season ... that ties with UConn for the third-most appearances in league history behind Providence (18) and New Hampshire (17).
• The Eagles have won three titles (2011, 2016, 2017) and have advanced to five out of the last six championship games ... BC's eight championship game appearances are most in league history.
• BC is 23-11 all-time in the Hockey East Tournament, second only to Boston University's 25-10 mark.
• The Eagles hold a record of 12-1 in the quarterfinals, including a 12-0 mark at Kelley Rink.
• BC has a mark of 0-1 in the tournament as the No. 4 seed, falling in the 2005 semifinals of the then four-team tournament to Providence.
• The 2010 season was the lone year in which the Eagles failed to advance to at least the semifinals of the now expanded tournament.

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 ... BC fell to UConn in the 2018 semifinals and dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Northeastern last year in the championship game.
• BC won its first championship in 2011, topping fifth-seeded Northeastern, 3-1, while seeded second.

IT'S WORTH NOTING...
• Cayla Barnes sits third in the nation and first in Hockey East with 93 blocks.
• Hannah Bilka leads all rookies in the country in points per game (1.13) and assists per game (0.71) while sitting second overall in points with 35 (13-22-35) and shots on goal (126).
• Kelly Browne is third in the country with 416 face-off wins.
• BC's underclassmen have combined for 179 points on 57 goals and 122 assists, third most in the country ... it's also 64% of the team's goals (57/89), 81% of assists (122/151) and 75% of points (179/240).
• Alexie Guay has been on the ice for a plus-47 goals scored, which leads all rookies in the country, sits third among all blue liners and ties for 17th overall ... Guay sits third in the country among rookie defenders in scoring with 19 points.
• The Eagles have four players with at least 11 goals and 11 players with at least 12 points.
• BC is tied for second in the country with six short-handed goals.
• Twenty-three of BC's 89 goals scored this season have come in the opening five minutes of a period while seven game-winning goals have been scored in the opening five minutes of a period.
• Eight different players have scored game-winning goals for the Eagles this season.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
• BC's freshmen and sophomore classes have combined for 179 points on 57 goals and 122 assists, the third highest point total in the country among underclassmen.
• The two BC classes have combined for 64% of the team's goals (57/89), 81% of assists (122/151) and 75% of points (179/240).
• BC's sophomore class has contributed 96 points on 34 goals and 62 assists ... that is 38 percent of the team's goals (34/89), 41 percent of assists (62/151) and 40 percent of the team's points (96/240) ... the 96 points is good a tied for ninth among all sophomore classes.
• The first-year players have recorded 83 points on 23 goals and 60 assists for the third-most points among rookie classes.
• All five sophomore skaters have produced some sort of career-high while four have produced career-highs in points, goals and assists in Olivia Finocchiaro (4-10-14), Savannah Norcross (11-6-17), Kelly Browne (13-23-36) and Jillian Fey (1-4-5) ... Cayla Barnes (5-16-21) has set a new career-high in goals.

BC Set to Host UConn in Hockey East Quarterfinals

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Players Mentioned

Lindsay Agnew

Cayla Barnes

Delaney Belinskas

Hannah Bilka

Kelly Browne

Jillian Fey

Olivia Finocchiaro

Alexie Guay

Hadley Hartmetz

Maddy McArthur

Savannah Norcross

Kelly Pickreign