HOCKEY EAST QUARTERFINAL No. 17 Vermont (20-13-4, 10-9-3 HEA) at No. 9 Boston College (20-11-3, 12-7-3 HEA)Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Mass. SCHEDULEGame 1: Friday, March 13, 2015, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Saturday, March 14, 2015, 7 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, March 15, 2015, 6 p.m. (if necessary)
COVERAGE
TV: NESN (Sat. and Sun.) | Radio: WVMT 620-AM | Video ($): HockeyEastOnline.TV
Video ($) | Audio | Live Stats | Tickets | Game Notes | CaTV: Preview | Promo
VERMONT MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOKThe 17th-ranked Vermont men's hockey team travels to face No. 9 Boston College in a best-of-three Hockey East Quarterfinal series this weekend at Conte Forum. Games 1 and 2 are set for Friday (March 13) and Saturday (March 14) at 7 p.m. If necessary, Game 3 would be played on Sunday (March 15) at 6 p.m. The 7-seed Catamounts and 3-seed Eagles will battle for a spot in the Hockey East Semifinal next Friday (March 20) at TD Garden in Boston.
COVERAGE | NESN Channel ListingsGame 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Game 3 on Sunday at 6 p.m. (if necessary) will be televised live on NESN with Alex Faust and Billy Jaffe on the call. Pack Network will also stream all the action on a pay-per-view basis via
HockeyEastOnline.TV. Fans can purchase a league pass for $59.95, and individual games are available for $9.95 each. Pre-game radio coverage begins 30 minutes prior to faceoff on WVMT 620-AM,
SportsJuice.com, and the TuneIn Radio app each night with
Alastair Ingram and
Joe Gervais on the call.
TICKETS | Buy OnlineFans can purchase tickets for the quarterfinal series through the Boston College athletics website at
BCeagles.com/Tickets. Seats are available in the end Vermont shoots at twice in section CC for $10 and section I for $20.
SETTING THE SCENEThe Catamounts have posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns for the first time since NCAA Tournament squads of 1996 and 1997, the third time in the Division I era, and the fourth time in school history. UVM is ranked 17th in this week's USCHO.com poll and is just one spot outside the top-15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll. Vermont is tied with Michigan for 19th in the most recent Pairwise Rankings, while Boston College sits 10th overall.
QUARTERFINAL NOTESThe Catamounts posted their best Hockey East regular season record (10-9-3) since 2009 to earn the No. 7 seed for the second straight year. This marks the third quarterfinal matchup between UVM and Boston College and the second in the last three postseasons. Last Friday, Vermont snapped a five-game losing streak dating back to 2008 in series openers in the Hockey East Tournament. UVM is trying to reach TD Garden for the first time since 2010 when it fell 3-0 to Boston College in the Hockey East Semifinal.
REGULAR SEASON SERIESThe schools split a Hockey East series in Chestnut Hill on Feb. 13-14. Vermont registered a 3-2 overtime victory on Friday night as
Anthony Petruzzelli played hero with the game-winner at 1:47 of OT. The Eagles responded on Saturday with a 6-5 win behind a pair of goals from Ian McCoshen and the eventual game-winner from Alex Tuch.
Brady Shaw scored twice in less than six minutes in the third to cut the Vermont deficit to one but Boston College held on for the split.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES | WebsiteBoston College is 13-4-3 in its last 20 games and finished the regular season in third place in the Hockey East standings at 12-7-3. Rookie Alex Tuch paces the Eagles with 28 points, while Tuch and sophomore Ryan Fitzgerald have each tallied a team-best 14 goals. Sophomore Thatcher Demko has started 31 games between the pipes with a 18-10-3 record, 2.18 goals against average, and .926 save percentage. Head coach Jerry York earned his 500th career win at Boston College earlier this season at Denver on Oct. 31, 2014.
OPENING ROUND RECAPVermont edged Maine 2-1 in a best-of-three series last weekend at Gutterson to win the Hockey East Opening Round. In Game 1 on Friday,
Brendan Bradley snapped a 2-2 tie with 2:07 left in regulation and UVM battled back to beat Maine 4-2. Connor Leen scored a pair of goals in the second period of Game 2, including the eventual game-winner, as Maine evened up the series with a 4-2 victory.
Jonathan Turk rifled a one-timer glove side on Sean Romeo from the slot with 3:55 left in overtime on Sunday to clinch the series.
RAREFIED AIR FOR PALIOTTAWith 35 points in 37 games, captain
Mike Paliotta is looking to become the first defenseman to lead Vermont in scoring since Louis Cote in 1977-78. Paliotta, the program's active scoring leader with 82 career points, notched a new career-high in scoring on Feb. 13 in the series opener at Boston College. The senior currently ranks fifth in the NCAA in defensive scoring and carries a four-game point streak into the quarterfinal round.
BRADY'S BREAKOUTWith eight goals in his last 12 games,
Brady Shaw has taken over the team-lead in goal scoring with 16, more than doubling his rookie total of six. Shaw has already surpassed his freshman year point total by 16 and is second on the team in points (27) and third in shots on goal (101). During the regular season, he was fourth in Hockey East with six power play goals, seventh in game-winning goals, and 10th in goals per game.
BRADLEY STEPS UPBrendan Bradley was named the Warrior Hockey East Co-Player of the Week on Monday after notching five points in the Hockey East Opening Round. The sophomore posted a three-point contest in Game 1 of the series on Friday, including the game-winning goal with just 2:07 left in regulation. Bradley is riding a season-high five-game point streak, during which he has collected three goals and four assists for seven points.
SANTA DELIVERSMike Santaguida ranks seventh in the nation in goals against average (1.93), 14th in save percentage (.927), and 19th in shutouts (3) this season. Santaguida, who has started a season-high nine straight games in net, is one of 28 nominees for the Mike Richter Award for the top goalie in Division I. He earned the Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the Week Award on Feb. 23 and made a career-high 37 saves last Sunday in the Game 3 win over Maine.
