Sunday, March 14
Chestnut Hill, MA
4:30 p.m.
Boston College
vs
New Hampshire
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Top-Ranked Eagles Meet 9-Seed UNH in Hockey East Quarterfinal
March 13, 2021 | Men's Hockey
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – No. 1 seed and top-ranked Boston College hosts No. 9 seed New Hampshire on Sunday (March 14) in a single game Hockey East Quarterfinal at Kelley Rink with faceoff at 4:30 p.m. on NESN. The game is also available for free on SportsLive with no restrictions in New England. Radio coverage on WEEI 850 AM and BCEagles.com begins at 4:15 p.m.
THE TOP SEED
• The Eagles finished the regular season at 16-4-1 to clinch first place in the league and home ice advantage throughout the 36th Hockey East Tournament
• Boston College has earned the No. 1 seed entering the Hockey East Tournament for the seventh time in the last 11 years (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021)
• BC has won 11 Hockey East Tournament titles, the last coming in 2012 as the 1-seed
• Over the previous 35 Hockey East Tournaments, No. 1 seeds have advanced to the semifinals 30 times, reached the title game 23 times, and won 17 titles
• However in the last five years, only six of the 24 No. 1 seeds (25%) across college hockey's six conference tournaments have gone on to win their tournament titles
GOT ANY QUARTERS?
• In 30 all-time appearances in the Hockey East Quarterfinals, BC is 44-19-1
• Boston College has won seven of its last eight quarterfinal games
• Three of the Eagles' last four quarterfinal games and four of the last eight have gone to OT
• The last team to knock off Boston College in the quarterfinal round was UVM in 2015
• The only other year that BC and UNH have faced off in the quarterfinal round was 2009, which was a two-game sweep by the Eagles as the No. 6 seed in Durham
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• New Hampshire defeated rival and No. 8 seed Maine 7-2 on Wednesday in Orono at Alfond Arena in the Hockey East First Round
• The Wildcats closed the regular season on a four-game winless streak
• Junior Jackson Pierson leads the team with 16 assists and 25 points
• He and classmate Angus Crookshank share the team lead with nine goals
• Senior Mike Robinson has started 20 of the team's 22 games between the pipes with a 5-11-3 record, 3.39 GAA and .879 SV%
• UNH is clicking at 18.1% on the power play but has the worst penalty killing percentage in the nation at 65.9%
THIS YEAR'S SERIES
• Each team claimed on overtime win on the other's home ice back on Friday, Jan. 8 and Sunday, Jan. 10 to begin the second semester
• Kalle Eriksson beat the Eagles at Kelley Rink on Jan. 8 with just 26 seconds remaining in overtime after Filip Engarås tied the game at 6:55 of the third
• After a day off, Marc McLaughlin netted a shorthanded game-winner 25 seconds into OT at the Whittemore Center to split the weekend
• BC once again led by a goal in the third, but Patrick Grasso tied it for UNH
• Colby Ambrosio, Nikita Nesterenko and Patrick Giles had the goals at Conte, while Casey Carreau and Mike Hardman also lit the lamp in Durham
SERIES HISTORY
• The schools will meet for the 159th time in the all-time series with Boston College holding a 77-65-16 overall advantage
• The last seven games in the series have been decided by a total of two goals and four of the last five meetings have gone to overtime
• Only two of the last nine meetings have been decided by more than a goal
• Jan. 8 was BC's first home loss to New Hampshire in more than nine years (Nov. 5, 2010), snapping an 11-game home unbeaten streak (9-0-2)
GOALIE OF THE YEAR
• Spencer Knight was named the Hockey East Goaltender of the Year on Friday, becoming the first Eagle to receive the award since Thatcher Demko in 2014
• The sophomore is 15-2-1 in net this season, ranking third nationally in winning percentage (.861) behind only Dryden McKay of Minnesota State and Cameron Rowe of Wisconsin
• Knight ranks third nationally in SV% (.937) and 11th in GAA (1.99) this year
• He owns a record of 23-2-2 in his last 27 starts dating back to last season, which included a personal unbeaten streak of 20 games
HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR
• In addition to being named Goaltender of the Year, Spencer Knight earned First Team Hockey East All-Star honors along with classmates Matt Boldy and Drew Helleson
• Knight was the lone unanimous selection, while captain Marc McLaughlin was also selected as a Hockey East Third Team All-Star
• It marks the first time that Boston College has had three First Team All-Stars since 2014 when Kevin Hayes, Johnny Gaudreau and Michael Matheson were all picked
DON'T GET DEFENSIVE
• Marc McLaughlin (Best Defensive Forward) and Drew Helleson (Best Defensive Defenseman) were honored with Hockey East's annual defensive awards on Thursday
• McLaughlin became the sixth Eagle to win Best Defensive Forward and the first since 2017
• He was also the runner up for the Len Ceglarski Individual Sportsmanship Award and was one of three recipients of the Three Stars Award
• Helleson became the ninth Boston College player and fifth in the last decade to receive the Best Defensive Defenseman Award, leading the league with a +21 rating
ALL-ROOKIE
Forward Nikita Nesterenko and defenseman Eamon Powell earned spots on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team on Thursday
• Nesterenko paced all Hockey East rookies in points per game with 18 points in 21 regular season games and had the second-best plus-minus rating among freshmen (+14)
• Powell led all rookies at plus-15 during the regular season and hasn't had a minus rating in a contest since the second game of the season
• The defenseman led all first-year blueliners in both assists (11) and points (13)
YORK IN THE TOURNEY
• Jerry York has the most wins all-time in the Hockey East Tournament with 63, pulling ahead of Jack Parker (62) with BC's upset of No. 1 seed UMass in the 2019 semifinal
• York is 63-23-1 (.730) in 87 career Hockey East Tournament games with nine championships
• With a 4-2 win at UConn on Jan. 23, he reached 1,100 career victories in his Division I career
SCORING IN BUNCHES
• Boston College sits second in the country in scoring offense with 3.9 goals per game
• BC has eight different players with a total of 10 multi-goal games this season
• The Eagles are 13-0-0 this season when they score at least four goals in a game
• BC's balanced attack features 11 different players who have scored at least four goals
SWEET VICTORY
• Boston College ranks third nationally and leads Hockey East with a .786 winning percentage
• The Eagles have just one regulation loss since the end of the first semester on Dec. 12
• That lone regulation defeat came at Boston University on Feb. 6
• BC closed the regular season winning five of its final six games, with the only loss coming in overtime to No. 9 UMass on Feb. 26
THE TOP SEED
• The Eagles finished the regular season at 16-4-1 to clinch first place in the league and home ice advantage throughout the 36th Hockey East Tournament
• Boston College has earned the No. 1 seed entering the Hockey East Tournament for the seventh time in the last 11 years (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021)
• BC has won 11 Hockey East Tournament titles, the last coming in 2012 as the 1-seed
• Over the previous 35 Hockey East Tournaments, No. 1 seeds have advanced to the semifinals 30 times, reached the title game 23 times, and won 17 titles
• However in the last five years, only six of the 24 No. 1 seeds (25%) across college hockey's six conference tournaments have gone on to win their tournament titles
GOT ANY QUARTERS?
• In 30 all-time appearances in the Hockey East Quarterfinals, BC is 44-19-1
• Boston College has won seven of its last eight quarterfinal games
• Three of the Eagles' last four quarterfinal games and four of the last eight have gone to OT
• The last team to knock off Boston College in the quarterfinal round was UVM in 2015
• The only other year that BC and UNH have faced off in the quarterfinal round was 2009, which was a two-game sweep by the Eagles as the No. 6 seed in Durham
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• New Hampshire defeated rival and No. 8 seed Maine 7-2 on Wednesday in Orono at Alfond Arena in the Hockey East First Round
• The Wildcats closed the regular season on a four-game winless streak
• Junior Jackson Pierson leads the team with 16 assists and 25 points
• He and classmate Angus Crookshank share the team lead with nine goals
• Senior Mike Robinson has started 20 of the team's 22 games between the pipes with a 5-11-3 record, 3.39 GAA and .879 SV%
• UNH is clicking at 18.1% on the power play but has the worst penalty killing percentage in the nation at 65.9%
THIS YEAR'S SERIES
• Each team claimed on overtime win on the other's home ice back on Friday, Jan. 8 and Sunday, Jan. 10 to begin the second semester
• Kalle Eriksson beat the Eagles at Kelley Rink on Jan. 8 with just 26 seconds remaining in overtime after Filip Engarås tied the game at 6:55 of the third
• After a day off, Marc McLaughlin netted a shorthanded game-winner 25 seconds into OT at the Whittemore Center to split the weekend
• BC once again led by a goal in the third, but Patrick Grasso tied it for UNH
• Colby Ambrosio, Nikita Nesterenko and Patrick Giles had the goals at Conte, while Casey Carreau and Mike Hardman also lit the lamp in Durham
SERIES HISTORY
• The schools will meet for the 159th time in the all-time series with Boston College holding a 77-65-16 overall advantage
• The last seven games in the series have been decided by a total of two goals and four of the last five meetings have gone to overtime
• Only two of the last nine meetings have been decided by more than a goal
• Jan. 8 was BC's first home loss to New Hampshire in more than nine years (Nov. 5, 2010), snapping an 11-game home unbeaten streak (9-0-2)
GOALIE OF THE YEAR
• Spencer Knight was named the Hockey East Goaltender of the Year on Friday, becoming the first Eagle to receive the award since Thatcher Demko in 2014
• The sophomore is 15-2-1 in net this season, ranking third nationally in winning percentage (.861) behind only Dryden McKay of Minnesota State and Cameron Rowe of Wisconsin
• Knight ranks third nationally in SV% (.937) and 11th in GAA (1.99) this year
• He owns a record of 23-2-2 in his last 27 starts dating back to last season, which included a personal unbeaten streak of 20 games
HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR
• In addition to being named Goaltender of the Year, Spencer Knight earned First Team Hockey East All-Star honors along with classmates Matt Boldy and Drew Helleson
• Knight was the lone unanimous selection, while captain Marc McLaughlin was also selected as a Hockey East Third Team All-Star
• It marks the first time that Boston College has had three First Team All-Stars since 2014 when Kevin Hayes, Johnny Gaudreau and Michael Matheson were all picked
DON'T GET DEFENSIVE
• Marc McLaughlin (Best Defensive Forward) and Drew Helleson (Best Defensive Defenseman) were honored with Hockey East's annual defensive awards on Thursday
• McLaughlin became the sixth Eagle to win Best Defensive Forward and the first since 2017
• He was also the runner up for the Len Ceglarski Individual Sportsmanship Award and was one of three recipients of the Three Stars Award
• Helleson became the ninth Boston College player and fifth in the last decade to receive the Best Defensive Defenseman Award, leading the league with a +21 rating
ALL-ROOKIE
Forward Nikita Nesterenko and defenseman Eamon Powell earned spots on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team on Thursday
• Nesterenko paced all Hockey East rookies in points per game with 18 points in 21 regular season games and had the second-best plus-minus rating among freshmen (+14)
• Powell led all rookies at plus-15 during the regular season and hasn't had a minus rating in a contest since the second game of the season
• The defenseman led all first-year blueliners in both assists (11) and points (13)
YORK IN THE TOURNEY
• Jerry York has the most wins all-time in the Hockey East Tournament with 63, pulling ahead of Jack Parker (62) with BC's upset of No. 1 seed UMass in the 2019 semifinal
• York is 63-23-1 (.730) in 87 career Hockey East Tournament games with nine championships
• With a 4-2 win at UConn on Jan. 23, he reached 1,100 career victories in his Division I career
SCORING IN BUNCHES
• Boston College sits second in the country in scoring offense with 3.9 goals per game
• BC has eight different players with a total of 10 multi-goal games this season
• The Eagles are 13-0-0 this season when they score at least four goals in a game
• BC's balanced attack features 11 different players who have scored at least four goals
SWEET VICTORY
• Boston College ranks third nationally and leads Hockey East with a .786 winning percentage
• The Eagles have just one regulation loss since the end of the first semester on Dec. 12
• That lone regulation defeat came at Boston University on Feb. 6
• BC closed the regular season winning five of its final six games, with the only loss coming in overtime to No. 9 UMass on Feb. 26
Players Mentioned
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