#1 Boston College vs. UConn: Preview & Prediction
Earlier this week Hockey East announced that they will be releasing weekly schedules for their member teams. This is due to COVID-19 causing various programs to go on pause, while other teams are ready to play. This week was scheduled to be Merrimack, but Boston College played them last weekend, so the conference changed their schedule to a home and home against UConn. The Huskies are on a tear, winning four of their last five games, scoring 14 goals in their last four games.
2020-21 Records: Boston College (8-2), UConn (5-5-1)
Recent Head to Head: Boston College saw their winning streak come to an end as UConn took four of a possible six points from Boston College in a home-and-home series on Dec. 11-12, 2020 before the break.
When: Friday: at BC 4pm, Saturday: at UConn at 4pm
How To Watch & Listen: Neither game will be televised but can be streamed on SportsLive (CollegeSportsLive.com) outside New England. Radio coverage is on WEEI 850-AM and BCEagles.com with Jon Rish and Andy Powers and begins fifteen minutes before the puck drops.
Follow Along: We will be watching the game and giving our feedback here on the site during the game. But you can also follow us on Twitter @BostonCollegeSI
Keys to the Game:
1. Don't Let UConn Jump Out Early: The Huskies are playing at a high level right now and are feeling confident as they continue to pile up the wins. They shattered the mystique of the Eagles earlier this season, an early goal or two and that confidence will be fully on display. BC needs to stop the early surge and control the game early.
2. Contain Carter Turnbull: If you want to talk Huskies fire power, look for the junior who scored a hat trick in UConn's overtime win last weekend against UNH. Obviously you don't want anyone scoring a hat trick, but Turnbull is growing into a go to player for the Huskies. A player worth watching out for.
3. Just keep scoring: Boston College is a hard team to beat when they are scoring like are. They are third in the country in scoring margin (+1.8), and there are few teams that can match their fire power. If BC continues to play their offense, and spread around their scoring they will be in good shape this weekend.
AJ's Predictions: UConn is playing good hockey right now and played BC especially tough earlier this season. I think this will be a tough matchup for the Eagles this weekend, with a split the most likely outcome.
Friday: Boston College 4 UConn 2
Saturday: UConn 4 Boston College 3
Photo courtesy of BCEagles.com