Spring Break
Huskies look to beat Eagles for first time in three tries
Jake Goldberg
Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: Sports
The women's ice hockey team hits the road Friday to take on the No. 5/6 Boston College Eagles. The game is at 7:00 p.m in Chestnut Hill, Mass., the home of the Eagles
Both the Huskies (6-3-2 3-1-0 'Hockey East) and Boston College (6-1-2 3-0-1) look to keep their unbeaten streak alive inside of Hockey East play. The Huskies are coming off a 5-2 win over conference foe Maine last Saturday, its first game in two weeks.
"It had been a while since we last played and we didn't exactly leave off on a good note at Princeton," said coach Heather Linstad. "But we have had a good, hard mentality during the past two weeks of practice; we are refreshed and ready for a big November."
Boston College is coming off of its first loss of the season to highly ranked Dartmouth (4-0) last Tuesday.
The winner of the game will take over the lead over in the Hockey East standings. Boston College is already tops in most of the statistics inside of the division and this win would continue a trend of good hockey for the Eagles.
Just by looking at the statistics you can tell the Huskies have been playing well this season, scoring 3.7 goals per game opposed to 2.2 for their opponents. Dominique Thibault, Amy Hollstein, Michele Binning and Cristin Allen all have over 10 points on the season.
What's problematic is that Thibault, Hollstein and Binning all play on the first line which has spawned nightmares for opposing teams this season. Few can match-up with UConn's first line.
Last year, the women struggled when it came down to their third line, but this year both their second and third lines have been productive. Teams can no longer wait the Huskies out, they are forced to play hard against every line. This also gives the first line a chance to rest a little bit longer.
On the power-play they have also been successful, scoring 19 percent of the time.
"It's funny because you shouldn't really expect to score more than 20 percent of the time on the power play," Linstad said. "But you sure do remember the other 80 percent of the time when you don't score."
The defense for the Huskies on the power-play has also been effective only allowing goals 14 percent of the time.
During the past two weeks the Huskies have focused on their attacks and going on the rush. With two weeks of work for an already good offensive team, Linstad said the team has looked good during the practices.
Boston also carries impressive stats into the Friday night game. Kelli Stack is tied with Thibault for lead in points in the conference. Both have 18, and Stack had only played in eight games this season.
Boston College scores over three goals a game while their goalie Molly Schaus is only letting up 1.30 goals per game and has a .949 save percentage. Their penalty kill works 93 percent of the time which is tops in the division.
The Huskies haven't beaten Boston College in three games, and will look to come out fast and try to capture a lead in the Hockey East.
Both the Huskies (6-3-2 3-1-0 'Hockey East) and Boston College (6-1-2 3-0-1) look to keep their unbeaten streak alive inside of Hockey East play. The Huskies are coming off a 5-2 win over conference foe Maine last Saturday, its first game in two weeks.
"It had been a while since we last played and we didn't exactly leave off on a good note at Princeton," said coach Heather Linstad. "But we have had a good, hard mentality during the past two weeks of practice; we are refreshed and ready for a big November."
Boston College is coming off of its first loss of the season to highly ranked Dartmouth (4-0) last Tuesday.
The winner of the game will take over the lead over in the Hockey East standings. Boston College is already tops in most of the statistics inside of the division and this win would continue a trend of good hockey for the Eagles.
Just by looking at the statistics you can tell the Huskies have been playing well this season, scoring 3.7 goals per game opposed to 2.2 for their opponents. Dominique Thibault, Amy Hollstein, Michele Binning and Cristin Allen all have over 10 points on the season.
What's problematic is that Thibault, Hollstein and Binning all play on the first line which has spawned nightmares for opposing teams this season. Few can match-up with UConn's first line.
Last year, the women struggled when it came down to their third line, but this year both their second and third lines have been productive. Teams can no longer wait the Huskies out, they are forced to play hard against every line. This also gives the first line a chance to rest a little bit longer.
On the power-play they have also been successful, scoring 19 percent of the time.
"It's funny because you shouldn't really expect to score more than 20 percent of the time on the power play," Linstad said. "But you sure do remember the other 80 percent of the time when you don't score."
The defense for the Huskies on the power-play has also been effective only allowing goals 14 percent of the time.
During the past two weeks the Huskies have focused on their attacks and going on the rush. With two weeks of work for an already good offensive team, Linstad said the team has looked good during the practices.
Boston also carries impressive stats into the Friday night game. Kelli Stack is tied with Thibault for lead in points in the conference. Both have 18, and Stack had only played in eight games this season.
Boston College scores over three goals a game while their goalie Molly Schaus is only letting up 1.30 goals per game and has a .949 save percentage. Their penalty kill works 93 percent of the time which is tops in the division.
The Huskies haven't beaten Boston College in three games, and will look to come out fast and try to capture a lead in the Hockey East.
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