Holy Cross hosts #6 Boston College in Worcester, playing its first home game as a Division I program and as a member of Hockey East on Friday before welcoming Merrimack on Saturday.
Women's Hockey East Weekend Preview
News and notes from the upcoming weekend of Women's Hockey East action

#6 Boston College at Holy Cross, at Maine

- Holy Cross hosts #6 Boston College in Worcester, playing its first home game as a Division I program and as a member of Hockey East on Friday before welcoming Merrimack on Saturday.

- The Crusaders are winless on the year, opening the season 0-5-2 on a seven-game road swing, including a 0-2-0 mark in Women's Hockey East play.

- #6 Boston College heads to Worcester riding a five-game winning streak after dropping the first two contests of the season at Minnesota Duluth.

- The Eagles won their first two league games of the season last weekend, allowing just one goal in a 3-1 and 3-0 wins over Merrimack and Vermont, respectively. Rookie goaltender Maddy McArthur (St. Catherine's, Ont.) made 48 saves across the two games and picked up her first career on Saturday against the Catamounts.

- Boston College then travels to Orono, Maine for a Saturday matinée at Alfond Arena. This game could prove a barometer for each squad, as the Black Bears sit 5-1-0 overall while the Eagles hold a 5-2-0 mark as the only WHEA programs with at least five victories on the year. Maine opened the year with a four-game win streak before splitting last weekend, while Boston College looks to extend its winning streak to six and seven games.

- Four players for Boston College were tabbed to wear the red, white, and blue in the Four Nations tournament from Nov. 6-10. Defensemen Cayla Barnes (Eastvale, Calif.), Kali Flanigan (Burlington, Mass.), Megan Keller (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Caitrin Lonergan (Roslindale, Mass.) are four of the 11 NCAA players selected to rosters.


#8 Northeastern vs. Providence, vs. Boston University, at Vermont

- The eighth-ranked ranked Huskies hosts Providence Friday night at Matthews Arena. Northeastern sits 4-1-1 overall, and 3-0-1 in league play, good enough for first place in the Army ROTC Hockey East Standings.

- Last weekend, #8 Northeastern stayed undefeated in league play, toppling then-#10 Maine, 3-0, behind the second shutout of the year by Aerin Frankel (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.). Veronika Pettey (Potomac, Md.) extended her point streak to six straight games in the process, earning Hockey East Player of the Week recognition, and has found the back of the net in five of her six outings this year.

- Boston University is off to a 1-2-3 start to the season that features 11 consecutive Women's Hockey East league games, including three against Northeastern. The two programs have clashed twice already this year, a 5-0 Northeastern win on Oct. 5 and a 3-3 stalemate on Oct. 6.

- The Huskies then travel to Burlington, Vermont on Tuesday for the last league game of the month, clashing with the Catamounts for the first time this season. Last year, Vermont took the season series against eventual-champion Northeastern, winning two games out of the three.


New Hampshire at Maine, vs. Providence

- New Hampshire looks to end a three-game winless skid as it dropped both games last Friday and Sunday to Vermont and #8 Northeastern, respectively. Currently sitting 1-3-0 in league play, the Wildcats play their next seven tilts against league foes.

- Maine sits at 5-1-0 overall after spitting its opening games in league play last weekend. The Black Bears offense is powered by four players that are averaging at least one point per game, including Liga Miljone (Riga, Latvia/3g, 5a), Tereza Vanisova (Strakonice, Czech Republic/5g, 2a), Vendula Pribylova (Olomouc, Czech Republic/3g, 3a) and Daria Tereshkina (Chelyabinsk, Russia/3g, 3a).

- All-time, New Hampshire boasts a 38-12-7 record against Maine.

- Providence has also enjoyed early season success, sitting at 4-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in Hockey East play. This game should be a battle as Providence's Maureen Murphy (Buffalo, N.Y./11p) and Northeastern's Veronika Pettey (Potomac, Md./10p) both sit in the top five in the NCAA in points scored.

- Murphy racked up five points (2g, 3a) in two games for the Friars last weekend, scoring the overtime-winner on Friday at Penn State. She has at least two points in each of the five games in which she has appeared this season after having just seven multi-point games in all of 2017-18.


Merrimack at Holy Cross, vs. Vermont

- After splitting last weekend in Women's Hockey East play with a loss at Boston College and a win over UConn, Merrimack hosts Vermont on Friday night. The Warriors look to move a winning record in Hockey East, currently sitting 1-1-1, and improve to 5-1-2 overall.

- Merrimack, led by Erin Hamlen, is off to a 5-1-2 overall start to the young season. The Warriors split a weekends series in WHEA play, toppling UConn, 3-1, on Saturday. Sam Ridgewell (Outlook, Sask.) went 1-1-0 in two starts, stopping a career-high 41 shots in the victory over the Huskies. The senior netminder saved 78 shots in her two outings.

- Vermont also split two league games last weekend with a win at UNH and a loss to the hands of Boston College. The Catamounts sit 1-2-2 overall after earning their first victory of the year at New Hampshire, thanks in part to Ève-Audrey Picard's (Longueuil, Que.) second-period goal and 22 saves from Melissa Black (Newmarket, Ont.).


UConn at Union

- UConn only has one game this weekend, traveling to Union for an out-of-conference matinée on Saturday to finish the October calendar month. The Huskies suffered setbacks in each of their previous two outings, dropping a 3-1 decision to league rival Merrimack and a 5-3 Tuesday result at Brown.

- The Huskies then play a five-game Hockey East slate, including three contests against #6 Boston College. The three games against the Eagles will mark the first time the two programs have met since UConn knocked Boston College out of the 2018 Women's Hockey East semifinals, 4-2, on March 3.