BC Women’s Hockey vs. UConn (Again): Final Thoughts & Predictions

Oh, hey, you guys again. Cool.

Earlier this week, Hockey East announced that this weekend would be RIVALRY WEEK! OH YEAH, BABY! Four men’s and women’s hockey games against Boston University. LET’S GO!

Well, unfortunately, Boston University’s athletic department announced literally the next day that they would be shutting down all athletics activities for a while due to COVID cases within the athletic department. So... no more rivalry week.

Instead, the league matched up Boston College with UConn, again, which means that the Eagles will now face off in their fourth and fifth matchups of the year against the Huskies, and second and third games in a row. Cool, I guess.

WHO

Saturday:
UConn Huskies (5-7-1, 5-7-1 WHEA)
at No. 7 Boston College Eagles (10-3-0, 10-3-0 WHEA)

Sunday:
No. 7 Boston College Eagles (10-3-0, 10-3-0 WHEA)
UConn Huskies (5-7-1, 5-7-1 WHEA)

WHAT

We can think of this as a watered down RIVALRY WEEK

WHERE

**Games will be played without fans, so don’t show up hoping to get in the door**

Saturday:
Conte Forum
Chestnut Hill, MA

Sunday:
Freitas Ice Forum
Storrs, CT

WHEN

Saturday, January 30th, 2021
3:00pm EST

Sunday, January 31st, 2021
3:00pm EST

HOW TO WATCH

Saturday’s game will be broadcast in HDTV on NESN. For those of you outside of the Hockey East area, you can stream for free at CollegeSportsLive.com

Sunday’s game will be streamed to everyone on CollegeSportsLive.com, as all non-NESN Hockey East games will be this season.

LAST TIME OUT

Boston College’s last game was against UConn on January 23rd, in a game that yours truly predicted the close final score of 2-1. The Eagles had their first 3 on 3 overtime in program history, and Jillian Fey closed out the game with a beautiful breakaway goal for the win.

UConn actually had a game since they last played the Eagles, as they were matched up with Northeastern for a midweek game this past Tuesday. Their defense was on display again as they held the high-flying other-Huskies to just two goals, but it was enough for NU to take the 2-0 win.

PROJECTIONS

With no inter-conference games this year, a national KRACH calculator would be pretty pointless. But since we’re only playing conference games, we can use a league-only KRACH projection. There haven’t been a ton of games played yet still, but there have been enough where the numbers are starting to take shape.

According to KRACH, the Eagles are 2nd in Hockey East, and UConn is squarely mid-table in 5th. The numbers work out to BC having a 70.03% chance of winning, or a 49% chance of a BC sweep. That feels about right — there’s a pretty strong chance that the Eagles don’t sweep this series.

THIS WEEK’S STORYLINE

Again? It’s awfully difficult to beat a decent team five times in a season — let alone three times in a row. UConn gives BC a tough time as it is (every game seems to feature a new “hey, wow, this must be a superstar goalie!), and lest we forget, the Huskies took BC to overtime last time out.

THE BIG QUESTION

Will the Eagles finally have a full roster? BC has had most players back for the last week or so, but one or two players have still been missing from the line chart — freshman forward Natalie Tulchinsky in particular. It would be nice to get the full gang back together again for the stretch run.

GAME TIME MEAL OF THE WEEK

Leftovers

For when you have no other options and the only thing in the fridge is what you had the other day, there’s leftovers.

GAME TIME SONG OF THE WEEK

Taylor Swift — We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Surely this will be the last time BC and UConn face off this year. I mean, this is exhausting, you know?

PREDICTION

I don’t think BC sweeps this series. UConn really isn’t that bad and they put up a good fight against #4 Northeastern last week. Add that to the fact that the Huskies are getting their fourth and fifth looks at the Eagles and UConn gives BC fits even in the best of years, and this feels like a split. BC will get a close 3-1 win at home before the Huskies flip the script for a 3-1 win over the Eagles in game two.