UMASS LOWELL 2021 HOCKEY EAST SEMIFINAL BOSTON COLLEGE 9 wins > 8 losses > 1 tie 17 wins > 4 losses > 1 tie uscho: RV > usa today: RV MARCH 17, 2021 • 4:30 P.M. • NESN uscho: 1 > usa today: 1 SETTING THE SCENE >>> NOVEMBER • No. 1 seed and top-ranked Boston College hosts No. 7 seed UMass Lowell on Wednesday in the 27 #7 UMASS W, 4-3 Hockey East Semifinal at Kelley Rink with faceoff at 4:30 p.m. on NESN 28 @ #7 UMASS W, 6-3 • The Eagles have won six of their last seven games and enter the matchup at 17-4-1 overall with home ice advantage throughout the 36th Hockey East Tournament >>> december • Lowell upset 2-seed Boston University 2-1 on Sunday at Walter Brown Arena in the quarters 4 #12 PROVIDENCE W, 3-0 • BC swept a home-and-home series from the River Hawks, 5-1 and 4-3, in mid-February 5 @ #12 PROVIDENCE W, 9-0 11 UCONN W, 4-3 (OT) WE MEET AGAIN 12 @ UCONN L, 1-3 • Boston College is 5-2-1 in eight all-time playoff matchups with UMass Lowell (the lone tie came in the consolation game of the 1997 tournament) >>> january • The Eagles are 3-0 against Lowell in the semifinal round with wins in 1985, 1986 and 2001 8 NEW HAMPSHIRE L, 3-4 (OT) • UMass Lowell won the only championship matchup between the schools in 2017 10 @ NEW HAMPSHIRE W, 3-2 (OT) • That 2017 title game is the only playoff meeting beween BC and UML in the last 20 years 16 MERRIMACK W, 2-1 • Boston College is 18-7 all-time in its 25 appearances in the Hockey East Semifinal 17 @ MERRIMACK W, 5-3 22 UCONN * T, 3-3 ON TO THE SEMIS 23 @ UCONN W, 4-2 • Boston College held off a comeback attempt from New Hampshire on Sunday to secure a 3-2 victory over the ninth-seeded Wildcats in the Hockey East Quarterfinal at Kelley Rink >>> FEBRUARY • The Eagles stormed out to a 3-0 first period lead, scoring three times in less than three minutes 2 @ #14 NORTHEASTERN W, 6-2 from Alex Newhook, Mike Hardman and Nikita Nesterenko 5 #15 BOSTON UNIVERSITY W, 4-3 (OT) • UNH battled back with a pair of goals in the second period, but Spencer Knight helped clinch 6 @ #15 BOSTON UNIVERSITY L, 1-3 the win with 13 saves in the final frame and 35 total stops in his first career playoff start 12 UMASS LOWELL W, 7-1 • Sunday marked the sixth straight meeting between the schools to be decided by a goal or less 13 @ UMASS LOWELL W, 4-3 • BC improved to 45-19-1 all-time in the Hockey East Quarterfinals 19 MAINE W, 4-2 • Boston College has now won eight of its last nine quarterfinal games 20 MAINE W, 3-0 26 #9 UMASS L, 2-3 (OT) THE TOP SEED • Boston College has earned the No. 1 seed entering the Hockey East Tournament for the seventh >>> MARCH time in the last 11 years (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021) 5 #18 NORTHEASTERN W, 4-2 • BC has won 11 Hockey East Tournament titles, the last coming in 2012 as the 1-seed 14 NEW HAMPSHIRE ^ W, 3-2 • In the history of the Hockey East Tournament, No. 1 seeds have advanced to the semifinals 31 17 UMASS LOWELL ^ 4:30 times (including this year), reached the title game 23 times, and won 17 titles 20 HOCKEY EAST CHAMPIONSHIP ^ TBA • 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 * UConn wins shootout 2-1 ^ Hockey East Tournament NICE ONE NIKITA All Tournament games hosted by high seed • Nikita Nesterenko had the game-winning goal in his playoff debut on Sunday and was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Week on Monday • Nesterenko ranks ninth nationally in scoring among freshmen with 19 points in 22 games 1 >>> at a glance >>> GAME NOTES UNIVERSITY INFORMATION GOALIE OF THE YEAR Location......................................................Chestnut Hill, Mass. • Spencer Knight was named the Hockey East Goaltender of the Year last Friday, becoming Founded .....................................................................................1863 the first Eagle to receive the award since Thatcher Demko in 2014 Nickname .............................................................................. Eagles • The sophomore is 16-2-1 in net this season to rank second nationally in winning percentage Colors ....................................................................Maroon & Gold (.868) behind only Dryden McKay of Minnesota State Enrollment ................. 9,370 (undergrad) / 14,559 (total) • Knight ranks third in the country in SV% (.937) and 11th in GAA (1.99) this year Home Rink ..................................................Kelley Rink (7,884) • He owns a record of 24-2-2 in his last 28 starts dating back to last season, which included a President .........................................Rev. William P. Leahy, SJ personal unbeaten streak of 20 games NCAA Faculty Representative ......................Bob Murphy • In 52 career starts, Knight is 39-10-3 for a .779 career winning percentage Athletic Director ....................................................Patrick Kraft Hockey Administrator .....................................John Hegarty Media Contact ..................................................Alastair Ingram HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR BC Athletics Website ..................................... BCEagles.com • 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 HOCKEY STAFF • Captain Marc McLaughlin was also selected as a Hockey East Third Team All-Star Jerry York ................................ Schiller Family Head Coach • It marks the first time that Boston College has had three First Team All-Stars since 2014 Mike Ayers ...........Heffes Family Associate Head Coach when Kevin Hayes, Johnny Gaudreau and Michael Matheson were all picked Brendan Buckley ............................ Associate Head Coach Brooks Orpik ...................................................Assistant Coach DON'T GET DEFENSIVE John Hegarty ...........................................Hockey Operations • Marc McLaughlin (Best Defensive Forward) and Drew Helleson (Best Defensive Defenseman) Bert Lenz.............................................................Athletic Trainer were honored with Hockey East's annual defensive awards Russ DeRosa ................................................... Strength Coach • McLaughlin became the sixth Eagle to win Best Defensive Forward and the first since 2017 Iggy Tarajos ........................................... Equipment Manager Alastair Ingram.............................................. Media Relations • He was also the runner up for the Len Ceglarski Individual Sportsmanship Award and was Cam Wolbach ..................................................Video Assistant 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 PROGRAM HISTORY Best Defensive Defenseman Award, leading the league with a +21 rating Affiliation...........................................................NCAA Division I Conference...............................................................Hockey East ALL-ROOKIE First Season ......................................................................... 1917-18 • Nikita Nesterenko and Eamon Powell earned spots on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team Total Seasons ...............................................................................98 • Nesterenko paced all Hockey East rookies in points per game with 18 points in 21 regular Overall Record .......................................1553-837-136 (.642) season games and had the second-best plus-minus rating among freshmen (+14) Kelley Rink Record (1988-pres) ........... 331-115-39 (.723) • Powell led all rookies at plus-15 during the regular season and hasn't had a minus rating in a McHugh Forum Record (1958-86) .... 282-95-10 (.748) contest since the second game of the season Winning Seasons ....................................................................... 77 • The defenseman led all first-year blueliners in both assists (11) and points (13) NCAA Championships ...............................................................5 (1949, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2012) NCAA Tournament Record .......................................... 49-42 YORK IN THE TOURNEY NCAA Tournament Record under York ...................36-14 • Jerry York has the most wins all-time in the Hockey East Tournament with 64, pulling ahead NCAA Frozen Four Appearances ..................................... 25 of Jack Parker (62) with BC's upset of No. 1 seed UMass in the 2019 Semifinal (1948, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1956, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1968, • York is 64-23-1 (.733) in 88 career Hockey East Tournament games and has won nine league 1973, 1978, 1985, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) championships during his tenure at Boston College NCAA Tournament Appearances .....................................35 • With a 4-2 win at UConn on Jan. 23, he reached 1,100 career victories in his Division I career Hockey East Regular Season Titles ................................... 17 Hockey East Tournament Titles ........................................... 11 SCORING IN BUNCHES Hockey East Tournament Record ...........................71-33-2 • Boston College sits second in the country in scoring offense with 3.9 goals per game HE Tournament Record under York .......................63-23-1 • BC has eight different players with a total of 10 multi-goal games this season All-Americans .............................................71 (48 First Team) • The Eagles are 13-0-0