No. 20 Eagles Head to Dartmouth for 32nd Annual Ledyard Classic

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – No. 20 Boston College opens up the second half of the season against Mercyhurst on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the first game of the 32nd Ledyard Classic at Dartmouth's Thompson Arena. The winner will face the winner of the New Hampshire vs. Dartmouth game on New Year's Eve at either 4 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.

Both of Boston College's games in Hanover will be broadcasted on ESPN+ with radio coverage beginning 15 minutes prior to faceoff on WEEI 850 AM and BCEagles.com. A live international video feed is also available via Dartmouth's athletic website.

SETTING THE SCENE
• Boston College is playing in its fourth Ledyard Classic, winning the annual holiday tournament in its last two appearances in December of 2010 and January of 2015
• Jerry York's squad has won its last four games in the Ledyard Classic with victories over Brown, Dartmouth and Colgate from the ECAC as well as Mercyhurst from Atlantic Hockey
• The Eagles enter the matchup at 8-5-3 overall and 5-3-2 in Hockey East play
• BC is unbeaten in its last four games (2-0-2) and 3-1-2 in its last six overall

SERIES HISTORY
• Thursday marks the third all-time meeting between Boston College and Mercyhurst
• The Eagles have won both previous matchups against the Lakers in 2005 and 2010
• The schools met in the 2005 NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinal in Worcester with BC claiming a 5-4 victory, out-shooting Mercyhurst 58-22 in a game with 22 penalties and 19 power plays
• Boston College defeated Mercyhurst 4-1 in the Championship Game of the Ledyard Classic on New Year's Eve of 2010 behind two goals from Brian Gibbons

BATTLE OF COMM AVE
• Trevor Kuntar ripped a shot off the left post to beat Drew Commesso in the fifth round of a shootout, securing an extra Hockey East point for Boston College following a 3-3 deadlock with Boston University in the 285th Battle of Comm Ave last time out on Dec. 10 at Agganis Arena
• BC roared back from 2-0 down through 40 minutes to take its first lead of the night at 3-2 in the third period, moving to 5-1-2 in their last eight trips to Agganis
• Marc McLaughlin ignited the comeback with his team-leading 12th goal of the year and added the primary assist on Patrick Giles' go-ahead goal
• Nikita Nesterenko netted his fifth goal of the season during the three-goal third, while Jack St. Ivany registered a pair of assists to raise his point total to 15
• Eric Dop closed the night with 32 saves, including several highlight reel stops during 3-on-3 overtime, and denied BU on all five of its shootout attempts

BACK AGAINST BROWN
• Playing its first game after an 18-day layoff (COVID protocols), Boston College received goals from four different players and cruised past visiting Brown 5-2 in non-league play on Dec. 7
• Seniors Marc McLaughlin and Patrick Giles combined for five points (3-2-5), while sophomores Colby Ambrosio and Nikita Nesterenko provided insurance tallies in the third period
• McLaughlin established a new career-high in goals with his fourth multi-goal game
• Eric Dop stopped 16 of the 18 Brown shots he faced to improve to 7-4-2 on the year

SENIOR CLASS
• Boston College's five-member senior class, comprised of four forwards and a defenseman, has combined for 32 goals and 66 points through 16 games
• Marc McLaughlin (1st), Jack McBain (6th) and Patrick Giles (7th) all rank top-10 in Hockey East in goals per game, having combined for 29 goals this season
• McLaughlin and McBain have also combined for eight of BC's nine power play goals
• Jack St. Ivany leads all Hockey East defensemen in assists, ranks second in points per game, and sits second overall among all skaters with a +14 rating
• Forward Casey Carreau has collected his first two points of the season in the last four games

PATTY WAGON
• Patrick Giles has scored a goal in three consecutive games for the first time in his career and is riding a career-best three game point streak as a result
• The senior forward entered the year with seven career goals but has already scored eight this season and has matched his career-high with 12 points
• He currently ranks seventh in Hockey East and 37th nationally in goals per game
• Giles needs just one more shot on goal to tie his career-high of 32 set last season

SCORING IN BUNCHES
• The Eagles currently lead Hockey East and rank ninth nationally with 3.5 goals per game
• Boston College has six players who rank among the top-25 in Hockey East in points per game
• BC has not been held under two goals all season through 16 games
• The Eagles have six players with at least four goals and 11 with at least two
• 32 of the team's 56 goals this season have been scored by seniors (57%)

RESCHEDULED GAMES
• Two games from late November that were postponed due to COVID protocols have been rescheduled
• The Eagles will travel to face Notre Dame on Wednesday, Jan. 19 in South Bend at 7 p.m.
• Boston College hosts Harvard on Tuesday, Feb. 1 on the Heights at 7 p.m.

UP NEXT
• BC returns to Kelley Rink next Saturday (Jan. 8) to host UConn at 4 p.m.

No. 20 Eagles Head to Dartmouth for 32nd Annual Ledyard Classic

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Players Mentioned

Colby Ambrosio

Casey Carreau

Eric Dop

Patrick Giles

Trevor Kuntar

Jack McBain

Marc McLaughlin

Nikita Nesterenko

Jack St. Ivany