CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – No. 8 seed Boston College meets No. 2 seed and 14th-ranked Merrimack in the Hockey East Quarterfinal on Saturday night at Lawler Rink live on NESN and ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. Radio coverage begins at 7:15 p.m. on WEEI 850 AM and BCEagles.com. The winner advances to the Hockey East Semifinal next Friday night at TD Garden.
SETTING THE SCENE
• The schools are meeting for the 14th time in Hockey East Tournament history and the first time since a Boston College sweep in the 2018 best-of-three quarterfinals
• BC is 5-3-0 in its last eight games and has scored exactly five goals in three straight
• Merrimack has won five games in a row with sweeps of Boston University and UMass Lowell along with a 4-1 win over Vermont in the regular season finale on March 4
OPENING ROUND RECAP
• Boston College's top line of Nikita Nesterenko, Cutter Gauthier and Andre Gasseau combined for nine points and a plus-11 rating in a 5-2 victory over UMass in the Hockey East Opening Round on Wednesday night at Kelley Rink
• BC improved to 10-1-0 all-time against UMass in the Hockey East Tournament
• The Eagles have won six straight in the overall series, including all four meetings this season, and are 10-1-0 in their last 11 matchups with the Minutemen
• BC out-shot UMass 42-18 as Mitch Benson picked up the win, needing only 16 saves
• Nesterenko (2-1-3), Gasseau (1-2-3) and Gauthier (0-3-3) all had three-point performances; Marshall Warren also had a multi-point night with a goal and an assist
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Boston College owns a 12-1 advantage in Hockey East Tournament action against the Warriors, including a 10-1 mark in quarterfinal matchups
• Saturday marks the sixth quarterfinal matchup between the schools as BC swept the Warriors in 2018 (1-0 & 4-3), 2003 (4-1 & 2-1), 2001 (1-0 & 5-1) and 1997 (7-6 & 4-3) and went three games against MC in 1990 (3-1, 3-6 & 8-5)
• Boston College has outscored Merrimack 52-27 all-time in the quarterfinal round
• The teams also met in the 2011 Hockey East Championship Game, which the top-seeded Eagles won 5-3 over the fourth-seeded Warriors for their 10th league title
SERIES HISTORY
• Saturday marks the 110th matchup of the all-time series and Boston College holds a 76-26-7 lead against the Warriors
• BC had a seven-game winning streak against Merrimack snapped in November of 2021 at Kelley Rink, and since then the Warriors have won the last three meetings
• MC swept a home-and-home series in early November of 2022, winning 3-1 in North Andover before beating the Eagles 5-2 at Kelley Rink two days later
• The Eagles have still won seven of the last 10 meetings overall and are 11-4-0 in their last 15 games against the Warriors over the last six years
• Boston College had a three-game winning streak at Lawler Arena snapped on Nov.