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Northeastern vs. Boston College
Northeastern welcomes in Boston College Saturday night for Homecoming weekend on Huntington Ave. In recent history, the Huskies and Eagles have engaged in heated battles that yielded seven games decided by a goal or less. The streak ended in the first round of the 60th annual Beanpot last year when Boston College ran away with a 7-1 victory at the TD Garden. Before the Beanpot, Northeastern and BC battled the elements at Fenway Park in which the Eagles skated to a 2-1 victory on Jan. 14, 2012. In the three gams prior, Boston College eked out one-goal victories before NU's last win on Feb. 19, 2011, at Matthews Arena. Boston College has dominated the series over the course of the last 10 games, owning an 8-1-1 advantage against the Huskies. Head coach Jim Madigan looks for his first win over BC on Saturday night while Jerry York owns a 47-16-5 overall mark against Northeastern.

Eagles set to take flight on Saturday
Saturday night marks No. 1/2 Boston College's first regular season game since defeating Ferris State for the national title on April 7, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. The Eagles will have a difficult time topping last year's banner performance that included its third-consecutive Beanpot championship, a Hockey East regular-season title, a Hockey East Tournament championship, a school record 33 victories and of course, the NCAA crown. In the Eagles' exhibition against New Brunswick on Oct. 6, Boston College displayed its skill in a 6-0 thrashing of the Varsity Reds, including four goals over the span of four minutes in the second period. BC returns top scorers Johnny Gaudreau, Steven Whitney, Pat Mullane and Bill Arnold to combat the departures of Barry Almeida, Tommy Cross, Paul Carey, Brian Dumoulin and Chris Kreider. Parker Milner returns to staff the pipes for the Eagles in 2012-13.

Season opening success
In the Huskies' season opener against No. 19 Merrimack on Wednesday, Oct. 10, Northeastern came away with a 4-2 victory at Matthews Arena. The last time Northeastern won its first regular season game of the year was in 2007-08 under head coach Greg Cronin. The Huskies defeated Providence at Matthews Arena in overtime on Oct 19, 2007. Chris Donovan buried the OT winner 44 seconds into the extra frame from Chad Costello and David Strathman.

Merrimack mash
Northeastern curbed a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) against Merrimack with the victory on opening night. The last time the Huskies defeated Merrimack before the season opener was a 2-1 win on Dec. 4, 2010, in North Andover, Mass. Wednesday also marked Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan's first-career victory against Merrimack (1-2-1).

Roy's winner
Newcomer Kevin Roy's power play goal at 8:33 of the first frame stood as Northeastern's game-winning goal against Merrimack on Oct. 10. The last time a freshman scored the game winner on opening night was when Jordon Shields turned the trick against UIC (Illinois-Chicago) on Oct. 30, 1992, in an 8-2 win. Shields' goal was scored in the first period, just like Roy's winner.

Rawlings reaches 40
Senior goaltender Chris Rawlings earned his 40th-career victory against Merrimack on Oct. 10. For his career, the North Delta, British Columbia, native owns a .917 save percentage and a 2.73 goals against average in 98 career starts.

Winning out of the gates
Northeastern is the third team in the NCAA to earn a victory in 2012-13 after its win over Merrimack on Oct. 10. Colgate (10-2, Niagara) and Quinnipiac (2-1, Maine) picked up the first two of the season.

National treasure
Senior assistant captain Robbie Vrolyk was the first student-athlete in the NCAA to score a short-handed goal in 2012-13. The Boylston, Mass., native sealed the deal in the 4-2 win against Merrimack by potting the shorty via the empty net. Vrolyk's last goal came at New Hampshire on Feb. 10, 2012. The last time Northeastern scored a short-handed empty net goal was against UMass Lowell on Dec. 10, 2011.

Ranked wreckers
Dating back to last season, Northeastern has defeated to nationally ranked foes in consecutive outings. Before knocking off No. 19 Merrimack on Oct. 10, the Huskies defeated No. 4 Boston University on March 3, 2012, at Matthews Arena.

Freshmen fracas
Three Huskies newcomers scored their first collegiate points on Wednesday against Merrimack, including Kevin Roy (1-1-2), Ryan Belonger (0-1-1), Colton Saucerman (0-1-1). Dax Lauwers (0-1-1) scored his first point as a Husky. Lauwers' last point in college came when he played with Army. His recorded an assist at Bentley on Jan. 28, 2011.

Manno-ing up
Sophomore Joseph Manno scored his first goal in 27 games against Merrimack on Oct. 10. It marked his first goal since tallying a pair at home against Boston College on Oct. 22, 2011.

Multi-point makers
Senior captain Vinny Saponari attained his sixth multi-point game as a Husky with a pair of assists on Oct. 10, joining rookie Kevin' Roy's game-winning goal and assist performance in the season opener. Saponari and Roy were the first two Huskies to record a multi-point performance this season.

Sophomore skipper
Head coach Jim Madigan enters his second season as head coach at Northeastern and is only one of nine coaches in the NCAA starting up his sophomore go-around. Four of them – Tom Anastos (MSU), Norm Bazin (UML), Rick Bennett (Union) and Andy Murray (W. Michigan) – led their teams to the NCAA Tournament in their first year. Huskies' coaches have amassed a win-loss total of 75-116-14 (.400) in their second seasons. Madigan looks to break the streak of NU coaches posting a losing record in their second season and to become the first since Bruce Crowder recorded a 21-15-3 mark in 1997.

H. Nelson Raymond (1930): 4-6-1
Herb Gallagher (1937): 3-9-1
William L. Linskey (1942): One season
Jim Bell (1956): 10-14-1
Fernie Flaman (1971): 6-20-0
Don McKenney (1990): 8-25-2
Ben Smith (1992): 10-24-1
Bruce Crowder (1997): 21-15-3
Greg Cronin (2006): 13-18-5

Stiff scheduling
Eight of Northeastern's 13 opponents this season are either ranked or receiving votes in the first USCHO.com poll released on Oct. 1. Boston College is the top-ranked squad in the country, followed by UMass Lowell (No. 6), Boston University (No. 12),  Harvard (No. 17), Merrimack (No. 19), Maine (No. 20), New Hampshire (RV – 64) and Providence (RV – 8). The Huskies earned six votes in the second poll.

Home sweet home
Northeastern's 2012-13 schedule is a lot less travel oriented than last season's out of conference schedule. In 34 contests, the Huskies will play half (17) of their games at Matthews Arena, 15 on the road (14 in Hockey East and one non-conference bout at Harvard) and the two Beanpot games at the TD Garden in February. Last season, Northeastern had only 14 home games and traveled on 18 occasions.

Grizzled goaltending
Senior goaltender Chris Rawlings returns for his senior season, becoming the first four-year netminder since Keni Gibson's tenure from 2001 to 2005. The North Delta, British Columbia, will start his 100th game in three upcoming starts and to this point, has amassed a sterling .917 save percentage and a 2.73 goal against average with a 40-41-15 mark. Rawlings is closing in on several Northeastern career records.  He is currently tied for the most career shutouts with Brad Thiessen (2006-09), totaling nine thus far. His save percentage (.917) ranks second in the NU annals and his total saves (2,855) mark is third. Rawlings needs 29 starts to match Bruce Racine's games played record of 126 and if he manages 19 victories this year, he'll also eclipse Racine's four-year total of 57.

Hello, my name is...
The Northeastern men's hockey program welcomes in a formidable class of 12 new student-athletes to the 2012-13 roster as announced by head coach Jim Madigan on Aug. 27. Six forwards, five defensemen and one goaltender help form a new-look Huskies squad to push the roster to 30 skaters. It is Northeastern's biggest incoming class since 2005-06 (13).

Switching sides
Included in Northeastern's 12-man class are three transfer students, all with college hockey experience. Dax Lauwers will have sophomore eligibility after his stint at Army during the 2010-11 season. Matt Marshall played the last four seasons (2008-12) at Vermont, but missed his senior season due to injury. The Hingham, Mass., native will have one year of eligibility left at NU. Torin Snydeman transfers to Northeastern after two seasons at Sacred Heart. The Groton, Mass., native will have to sit out the 2012-13 season per NCAA rules but will have junior status in 2013-14.

Offensive returners
Northeastern's offense ranked seventh in Hockey East last season, but the Huskies return a corps of scoring from last year that will help improve those numbers. Northeastern returns five of its top seven scorers from 2011-12 and 66 percent of its total offense. NU lost Steve Quailer (8-17-25) and Justin Daniels (7-10-17), but sophomore Ludwig Karlsson, seniors Garrett Vermeersch and Vinny Saponari and juniors Braden Pimm and Cody Ferriero return as this season's corps of veteran leadership offensively. Those five combined for 46 goals, 64 assists and 110 of NU's 259 points.

Categorically speaking
Senior centerman Garrett Vermeersch has scored the most career points at Northeastern throughout his tenure as a Husky. The Macomb, Mich., native's 58 points are technically second, overall, but 47 of Vinny Saponari's 70 points were tallied at Boston University. Vermeersch is also the most seasoned Husky, skating in 105 career games, eight clear of Chris Rawlings' 97 showings.

Captain corps
Senior Vinny Saponari takes over for Mike McLaughlin as the captain of the Huskies in 2012-13. Saponari will be assisted by senior forward Robbie Vrolyk and sophomore Ludwig Karlsson. This will be the second-consecutive season Northeastern has had a sophomore alternate captain (Anthony Bitetto – 2011).

Huskies hockey in HD
GoNUxstream will broadcast each and every home men's hockey game free, in HIGH DEFINITION, live at www.GoNU.com/GoNUxstream. Northeastern University was the first school in Hockey East to broadcast a live, HD stream over the internet. The broadcast is complete with live stats, live chat, commentating and sideline reporting.

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