Eagles Face No. 10 UConn Thursday Night in Hartford

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College rides a three-game unbeaten streak into Hartford on Thursday night for a Hockey East clash with No. 10 UConn at the XL Center on ESPN+ and WEEI 850 AM at 7 p.m.

SETTING THE SCENE
• Boston College is 2-0-1 in its last three games after falling to No. 6 Quinnipiac on opening night
• The Huskies won last year's three-game regular season series 2-1-0, but the Eagles won the lone meeting in Hartford by a 2-1 final in November
• Connecticut is off to a 6-1-1 start and is 3-1-0 in league play following an overtime win and regulation loss at Boston University last weekend
• BC has earned a win in each of its last four trips to the XL Center

WILDCAT SWEEP
• Five different Eagles scored and Mitch Benson stopped all 22 shots he faced as Boston College coasted to a 5-0 Hockey East shutout of UNH on Sunday at Kelley Rink
• The victory finished off a two-game regular season sweep of the Wildcats
• Rookie defenseman Lukas Gustafsson netted his first career goal, which proved to be the game-winner, and added an assist for his first collegiate multi-point performance
• Freshman Cutter Gauthier scored for the second straight game and added an assist, while classmate Andre Gasseau collected the first two assists of his career
• Juniors Trevor Kuntar and Nikita Nesterenko along with sophomore Mike Posma also scored in the dominant victory
• BC out-shot UNH 34-22 and only took one penalty all afternoon

HONOR FOR GUS
• Lukas Gustafsson was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Monday
• The Atlanta native had three points in two games last week, including the first assist, first goal and first multi-point performance of his NCAA career
• Gustafsson posted 11 goals and 27 assists for 38 points in 59 games for the USHL's Chicago Steel last season

SERIES HISTORY
• Thursday will mark the 22nd all-time meeting in the series, which BC leads 14-5-2
• BC edged UConn 2-1 at the XL Center last season on Nov. 12 as Jack McBain wristed a shot high glove side to beat Darion Hanson with 1:22 left in the third period
• Boston College is 6-2-0 in its eight previous trips to the XL Center
• The Eagles have won four in a row in Hartford by a combined score of 16-5
• BC was undefeated all-time in Chestnut Hill (7-0-2) in the series prior to a pair of UConn victories last season during the second half by 5-4 and 6-4 finals

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
• In addition to Cutter Gauthier's debut goal, rookie defensemen Lukas Gustafsson and Charlie Leddy each posted their first assists in the Northeastern tie on Oct. 18
• Mitch Benson posted his first win at UNH on Oct. 15, his first 30-save performance on Oct. 18 at Northeastern, and his first BC shutout on Sunday vs. UNH
• Mitch Andres registered his first career goal and multi-point game on Oct. 15 at UNH
• Oskar Jellvik has assists in each of his first three collegiate games
• Andre Gasseau posted his first career assist and multi-point game on Sunday

UP NEXT
• BC will play Merrimack in a home-and-home series next Thursday and Saturday, beginning at Lawler Rink

Eagles Face No. 10 UConn Thursday Night in Hartford

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Players Mentioned

Mitch Andres

Mitch Benson

Andre Gasseau

Cutter Gauthier

Lukas Gustafsson

Oskar Jellvik

Trevor Kuntar

Charlie Leddy

Jack McBain

Nikita Nesterenko

Mike Posma