Hey, Boston College Women’s Hockey is 3-0-0! That’s great! But let’s be honest here — the results have been less than impressive and borderline concerning. Needing overtime to take care of Penn State in week one and barely squeaking by the worst team in what is shaping up to be a not-particularly-good Hockey East conference in week two is not at all what you are hoping to see.
Combine that with the fact that the Eagles have been soundly outshot in all three games, and well... the “perfect” start has written all over it.
WHO
Friday
New Hampshire Wildcats(0-3-1, 0-3-1 WHEA)
at No. 4 Boston College Eagles (3-0-0, 1-0-0 WHEA)
Saturday
No. 4 Boston College Eagles (3-0-0, 1-0-0 WHEA)
at New Hampshire Wildcats(0-3-1, 0-3-1 WHEA)
WHAT
The home opener, and the always painful trip up to Lake Whitt
WHERE
Friday
Conte Forum
Chestnut Hill, MA
Saturday
Whittemore Center Arena
Durham, NH
WHEN
Friday, October 15th, 2021
2:00pm EDT
Saturday, October 16th, 2021
7:00pm EDT
HOW TO WATCH
Friday’s game will be live on NESN, or will be streamed at collegesportslive.com for free for those of you outside of the NESN area.
Saturdays game will be streamed free at collegesportslive.com for everyone.
LAST TIME OUT
New Hampshire has started out their year with a pretty tough schedule, playing three games against BU and one against Providence. Last week the Wildcats played one game against each, dropping their road matchup at PC 3-1 before earning a pretty solid 3-3 tie (and the shootout win, if those are your thing) at home against BU the next night.
Boston College had a one-off game against Merrimack last weekend and came away with what was really a pretty surprisingly not-great 2-1 win over the Warriors.
PROJECTIONS
Once everyone’s played some games, this space will be used for KRACH and GRaNT projected odds and scores for the weekend games. But we don’t have enough results to use just yet, so watch for those in the coming weeks!
THIS WEEK’S STORYLINE
Welcome Home! This will be BC’s first game back at Conte Forum in the new season, and hopefully they can use that to jump-start their season and play a little sharper. The Eagles have historically been a pretty strong team at home, so it’ll be nice to see if it can make a difference.
THE BIG QUESTION
So, really, what the hell? BC has looked extremely not-sharp so far here in their first three games. The most head-scratching thing of all is that the Eagles have gotten absolutely blitzed in the shot count by their opponents, even getting solidly outshot by terrible, terrible Merrimack last weekend.
I have to be honest, I am completely agog that the pollsters over at USCHO have the Eagles all the way up in 4th. Over here in the SB Nation Women’s Hockey Poll, BC is just barely ranked, eking into the rankings at 10th place. My ballot had them 7th, which honestly feels a bit high and buoyed more on preseason expectations than their actual gameplay in the early going.
The good news, though, is BC’s goaltending has been exceptional, and it’s not really a result of a small sample size — Abbey Levy has been one of the best goalies in the country since taking the reins halfway through last season and she’s brought that right into the new year. If BC can get their offense (and general puck possession) back on the right track, the wins are going to keep coming.
GAME TIME MEAL OF THE WEEK
McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger Meal
Okay, yeah, last week was at least on the healthier side of takeout, and we’re flipping it in the total opposite direction this week.
Your favorite women’s hockey writer will be making a short flight south to visit some family this weekend, and grabbing something to eat at an airport McDonald’s is one of those travel things that I always look forward to. Maybe it’s because it’s about the only time I ever eat McDonald’s, but man, it just hits different at the airport.
The double cheeseburger is an old standby that you can’t really go wrong with. If you’re really feeling like you want a side of angioplasty, double up on the cheese.
GAME TIME SONG OF THE WEEK
Olivia Rodrigo — brutal
All I did was try my best, this the kind of thanks I get?
Unrelentlessly upset
They say these are the golden years, but I wish I could disappear
Ego crush is so severe
God... it’s brutal out here
Everyone knows the Olivia Rodrigo mega-hit, obviously, but we’ll go with a little more of a deep cut that fits a little better with how things have started for BC. The Eagles have really had to tough it out to get these first few wins. Hopefully things start to click going forward.
PREDICTION
Alright, well, I feel pretty good about the home game. The Eagles will have some folks in the stands for the first time in a long time, which will be a nice little confidence boost, but also BC just seems to know the bounces at Kelley Rink and plays pretty great on their own ice. I like BC getting a better (not great, but better) 4-1 win at home.
On the other hand, Lake Whitt is kind of an eternal house of horrors, and the young defense might have some trouble keeping up on the Olympic ice. I think BC will probably pull out the win in game two, but they may need 3 on 3 OT to do it — call it a 3-2 (OT) BC win in Durham on Saturday.