Nov. 13, 2009

Game Notes in PDF Format

Games 7 & 8
#16 Boston College (3-2-1, 2-2-1) vs. #15/#15 Vermont (3-3-1, 2-2-1)

Date
Saturday, November 14, 2009

Time
7:05 p.m. EST

Site (Capacity)
Conte Forum/Kelley Rink (7,884)

Drop the Puck
The Eagles and Catamounts will wrap-up the three-game league series with two games in Chestnut Hill, Mass., on Saturday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Nov. 15.  Saturday's contest will faceoff at 7 p.m., while Sunday's game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. drop of the puck.  BC is coming off a three-point league weekend, earning a 4-4 tie at New Hampshire (Nov. 6) and a 5-1 home win over Northeastern (Nov. 7) and is ranked 17th in the USCHO.com poll and is receiving votes in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll.  Vermont is ranked 15th in both polls.  Since BC opened its season on Oct. 18 against the Catamounts in Burlington, Vt., UVM lost consecutive road games against Merrimack and Maine before tying UMass-Lowell last Friday and defeating Providence 3-0 last Sunday.

Internet Audio
ISP manages and produces all BC hockey broadcasts.  The games will be broadcast by Jon Rish (play-by-play) and Ken Hodge (color) and can be heard live on Boston College's official athletics web site: www.bceagles.com.

Internet Video
Both Boston College vs. Vermont games will be video streamed live over the internet through CBS College Sports All-Access via bceagles.com.

Real-Time Stats
Live in-game stats will be provided through CBS College Sports Gametracker via bceagles.com.

Twitter Updates
Live in-game news updates on Boston College soccer are available through Twitter at: Twitter.com/BCSportsNews.

Date
Sunday, November 15, 2009

Time
4:05 p.m. EST

Site (Capacity)
Conte Forum/Kelley Rink (7,884)

Polls
Boston College is ranked 16th in the USCHO.com poll and is receiving votes in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll.  Vermont is ranked 15th in both polls.

Last Time Out
Junior Brian Gibbons tallied one goal and two assists and senior Ben Smith added one goal and one assist to lead Boston College to a 5-1 Hockey East win over Northeastern in Kelley Rink.  Senior defenseman Carl Sneep registered three assists, marking his fifth straight game with a point and his second consecutive game with multiple points.  Sneep scored two power-play goals at New Hampshire (Nov. 6).  Down one goal, BC evened the score on freshman Philip Samuelsson's first collegiate goal at 10:39.  Boston College took a 2-1 lead on Smith's power-play goal at 5:15 of the middle period.  Sophomore Cam Atkinson doubled the BC margin at 10:39.  Sophomore Paul Carey gave BC a 4-1 cushion with a power-play tally at 2:07 of the third period, before Gibbons completed the night's scoring just 80 seconds later. BC converted on 2-of-7 power-play chances, while holding Northeastern scoreless on its seven man-advantage opportunities.
The Vermont Series

Last Meeting
BURLINGTON, Vt. (Oct. 18, 2009) - Junior forward Joe Whitney opened the game and Boston College's 2009-10 season with a goal at 4:36 of the opening period, but Vermont tallied four unanswered goals and earned a 4-1 Hockey East win over BC before a sellout crowd of 4,003 fans at Gutterson Fieldhouse.  UVM sophomore goaltender Rob Madore totaled 22 saves - and stopped all 10 BC shots during a second period in which BC enjoyed three power-play opportunities and outshot the victors, 10-4 - to earn his second win of the young season.

Last Meeting In Conte Forum
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (Oct. 24, 2008) - Andrew Orpik scored the decisive goal late in the third period to lift Boston College to a 3-2 Hockey East win over Vermont. Freshman Paul Carey tallied his first collegiate goal -- on the power play -- to give BC a 1-0 lead. Ben Smith doubled the host's margin less than two minutes later with a power-play goal at 9:26.

Series Facts

•     The Eagles are 8-0-0 against the Catamounts in Conte Forum/Kelley since UVM joined the Hockey East Association prior to the 2005-06 season.

•     In 16 meetings as league opponents, Boston College has earned four shutouts, including a 29-save shutout effort by John Muse in the 2008 Hockey East Tournament Championship game.

•     In eight career meetings against UVM, junior goaltender John Muse is 4-2-2.

Quick Glance at the Team's Top Scorers

• Six games into the 2009-10 season, junior center Brian Gibbons leads all BC scorers with 10 points - three goals and seven assists.  The Braintree, Mass., native tallied five points - one goal and four assists - in two games last week, including one goal and two assists in a 5-1 home win over Northeastern.  The 5-foot-8-inch, 165-pound forward owns a five-game scoring streak during which he has tallied all 10 of his points.

• Senior defenseman Carl Sneep ranks second on the team with eight points - three goals and five assists, including five points - two goals and three assists - in two games last weekend.  The 6-foot-3-inch, 212-pound Sneep tallied two power-play goals in a 4-4 tie at New Hampshire and three assists against Northeastern, marking his fifth straight game with a point and his second consecutive game with multiple points.

• Senior alternate captain Ben Smith ranks third among BC skaters with seven points and a team-high five goals.  The Avon, Conn., resident has registered one goal in five straight games and tallied three points - two goals and one assist - in two games last weekend.

• Sophomore Paul Carey, a Weymouth, Mass. native, recorded one point in each BC game last week and has tallied at least one point in four straight games (2-3--5). 

The Power Play
BC has scored nine power-play goals in six games and is converting its chances at a 23.1 percent rate (9-for-39). That mark ranks 13th among national leaders.  In two games last week, BC finished a combined 6-fot-12 in power-play situations, more than doubling its prior conversion percentage.  Brian Gibbons (1-6--7) and Ben Smith (2-3--5) are the team's top producers while BC is skating with a man advantage.

The Penalty Kill
BC has killed 87.1 percent (27-of-31) of its opponent power plays and finished 8-for-9 in penalty-kill situations in two games last week.  The team has not scored while skating shorthanded this season.

The Faceoff Circle
Boston College has averaged a win at the faceoff circle 53.7 percent (205-of-382) of the time through six games.  Sophomore Cam Atkinson (61.6 percent win rate) and captain Matt Price (47.7 percent win rate) have each taken a team-high 86 faceoffs, while center Brian Gibbons (51.3 percent win rate) has taken 78 faceoffs and freshman center Pat Mullane (62.5 percent win rate) has taken 48 faceoffs.

Road Warriors
Boston College, which owns a 3-2-1 record and features a roster that includes three seniors, four juniors, nine sophomores and nine freshmen, has played four (of its six) games this season on the road.  The Eagles are 2-0-0 at home with league victories over Merrimack (Oct. 30) and Northeastern (Nov. 7).  Following this weekend's two-game homestand against the Catamounts, BC will travel to Maine for the two-game series next weekend.

The Captains
Matt Price serves as Boston College's 87th team captain in program history.  He is joined by 2009-10 assistant captains Matt Lombardi and Ben Smith.  Price is a 5-foot-9-inch, 180-pound forward from Milton, Ontario who has played in 113 career games, including all 86 games over the last three seasons.  Lombardi is a 5-foot-11-inch, 194-pound forward who comes from Milton, Mass., and Governor's Academy.  Smith is a 5-foot-11-inch, 207-pound forward from Avon, Conn., and Westminster who has played in all 129 games during his four-year career.

In Goal
Following hip surgery last April, junior goaltender John Muse returned to start and play five of BC's six games this season.  The East Falmouth, Mass., native is 2-2-1 in five games with a 3.16 goals against average and a .864 save percentage.  Freshman goaltender Parker Milner, a 6-foot-1-inch, 185-pound Pittsburgh, Pa., native, made 15 saves in a 4-3 win over Merrimack on Friday, Oct. 30 to earn the victory in his first career start.  Milner played 31 games for the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL in 2008-09.  His start in the BC net snapped a string of 83-straight starts by Muse.  Boston College's 2009-10 roster also features sophomore Chris Venti, a Needham, Mass., resident who saw action in one game for 7 minutes, 56 seconds last winter. 

The Senior Class
Boston College's Class of 2010 consists of four seniors - F Matt Lombardi, F Matt Price, F Ben Smith and D Carl Sneep.  The quartet has combined to play in 452 combined contests.  It has captured two Hockey East Tournament titles (2007 and 2008), advanced to two Frozen Fours (St. Louis, 2007; Denver, 2008) and captured the 2008 NCAA title.  The foursome embarks on the seventh game of its final collegiate campaign with a combined record of 75-40-14.

Band of Brothers
This season marks the 19th time in program history that at least one set of brothers  are playing alongside a sibling and the first time in the 87-year history of Boston College hockey that two sets of brothers - Cam and Tommy Atkinson and Joe and Steven Whitney - are members of the same team.  These four student-athletes comprise four of BC's 25 players on its 2009-10 roster.  Additionally, it marks the eighth time in head coach Jerry York's (16-year) tenure that a set of brothers are on the same team. 

Freshman Firsts
Freshman Philip Samuelsson scored his first collegiate goal at 10:39 of the first period of a 5-1 win over Northeastern on Saturday, Nov. 7.  Two first-year players - Samuelsson and forward Chris Kreider - assisted on Ben Smith's second-period goal in BC's 3-2 win at Notre Dame (Oct. 23) for their first collegiate points, while forward Pat Mullane tallied his first career point (an assist) on Jimmy Hayes' first-period score against Merrimack (Oct. 30).

Former Eagle Brian Leetch Inducted Into Hockey Hall of Fame

Former Boston College star defenseman Brian Leetch was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, November 9 in Toronto, Ontario. In addition to Leetch, the 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame Class features former NHL greats Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Steve Yzerman, and front-office legend Lou Lamoriello. Leetch played one memorable season - 1986-87 - at Boston College. The text below highlights Leetch's fantastic hockey career - at Boston College and in the National Hockey League. Leetch is the second Boston College hockey player to be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. He joins Joe Mullen, who was inducted on November 13, 2000, in Toronto.