Boston College women’s hockey procures Honeybaked flavor

(Photo courtesy of BC Athletics)

Collecting quotes from Megan Keller and Tori Sullivan can be akin to watching actors rotate a shared role in a stage production. Either that, or performers in successive adaptations of the same story, with only negligible dialogue discrepancies and mutual justice to each other’s character portrayals.

They two freshmen are living the same essential tale as Detroit Honeybaked-turned-Boston College women’s hockey prodigies, and recount the joint journey through analogous articulation.

“After my first time visiting BC, I was 14 years old,” Keller, the defender from Farmington Hills, Mich., told Along the Boards via e-mail. “I remember right when I got home telling my parents, ‘This is the place I want to go.’”

“I first visited BC when I was 14 years old,” Sullivan, the forward from West Bloomfield, Mich., wrote in her own e-mail to ATB. “After the visit, I remember saying to myself that this is, without a doubt, the place where I want to be.”

It did not hurt their decision to have a pair of former Honeybaked allies preceding them as Eagles recruits. Forwards Andie Anastos and Haley McLean, now sophomores at Chestnut Hill, shared action with Keller and Sullivan for the southeast Michigan travel program in multiple age groups.

“Coming into BC, I felt like I already knew the team through Andie and Haley,” said Keller. “And the team in general is one of the nicest groups I have ever met. That alone made it easy to adjust.

“We are together every day, and you’d think it would be easy to get sick of each other, but it’s not. I love being around our team and the whole BC community. It is truly something special to be a part of."

The facility of the transition has doubtlessly helped all four players coalesce into a near-perfect composition of 23 players. The Eagles enter Thanksgiving weekend the decisive top-ranked team in the country, brandishing a 14-0-1 overall record and seamless 9-0-0 transcript in Hockey East play. Results-wise, it is the uncontested best start in the modern BC women’s program’s 21 seasons of operation.

Each of the second-time allies, though appreciative of one another’s company, have punctuated their team-wide compatibility in every environment. Although Anastos and McLean are second-year roommates in their dorm, and Keller and Sullivan share common campus digs as well, they graciously accept assigned arrangements on road trips.

And whether they are grooming their game at Conte Forum, entertaining their own boosters or invading another barn, they have meshed with previously unfamiliar linemates and defensive partners. Anastos, Sullivan and McLean have generally spread the depth on BC’s second, third and fourth forward units, respectively. Keller is making steady strides as a depth defender, likely to reach the top tier in due time.

All, however, have established an indispensable niche, and reaffirm their common roots through a common drive.

“They’re all really hard workers,” Eagles head coach Katie King Crowley told ATB in a phone chat this week. “They come in ready to go every day, and they like to have fun. All four of them are great hockey players, and have developed their own style, but they all contribute. We’re fortunate to have them.”

Stacked with incentive

With the successive enrollment of Anastos and McLean, then Keller and Sullivan, the all-time Honeybaked-BC pipeline has quickly quintupled. Until last fall, the institutions’ connections were strictly confined to a certain 2011 Eagles graduate by the name of Kelli Stack.

Stack, a two-time silver medalist with the U.S. Olympic team, helped the Honeybaked 19-and-under team to an appearance in the 2006 USA Hockey national tournament. Afterwards, she wasted little time lending a face to the alumnae of her last travel program, let alone relevance to the women’s wing of the Kelley Rink at Conte Forum.

Stack bookended a five-year stretch with a piloting role in BC’s first two Women’s Frozen Four appearances (2007 and 2011). She thrice garnered the Hockey East player of the year award, only falling short as a sophomore.

After a year’s leave for a 2010 Olympic excursion, she finished rewriting the program record book with career totals of 98 goals, 111 assists and 209 points, and led the Eagles to their still-only WHEA postseason pennant.

No wonder Crowley and company took another look at southeast Michigan when reloading in the wake of Stack’s graduation, right?

“Obviously, we’re trying to find the best fits for our program,” Crowley said. “I feel like those kids — coming through that program after Stack really fit that mold —they got on our radar, and we wanted to continue to watch them play.”

No later than the end of May 2013, Crowley and longtime top assistant Courtney Kennedy had seen enough to extend offers to some of Stack’s successors.

For Anastos and McLean, the faith was mutual. They formally signed on to join what was then a three-time reigning national semifinalist a full two years after Stack snagged her degree.

“Being recruited by BC was a rather short process for me,” Anastos, Keller’s fellow Farmington Hills resident, recalled. “I just remember going on a visit to the school and being like, ‘Yes I want to go here. This is the place for me.’ I just really liked the coaches, and obviously knew they had a strong program, with great players like Stack that have gone through the program.”

With Keller and Sullivan, the pattern reran itself in the latest recruiting cycle. “While it’s safe to say I was pretty set on going to BC, knowing that Kelli Stack came here before me and had success only ensured my decision,” said Keller.

Granted, the locally bred Alex Carpenter has filled the unofficial void as BC’s resident prolific, otherworldly, Olympic-seasoned talent. But Stack’s successors in the pipeline from suburban Detroit to the outskirts of Boston have squandered no time upholding the program’s celestial status as asked.

Anastos, in particular, made instant ripples when the radar opened to her in 2013-14. While Carpenter spent the season on Team USA’s trek to Sochi, Anastos led the Eagles with 21 assists and placed second on the team with 14 goals and 35 assists. She would join current junior teammate Haley Skarupa (2013) and Stack (2007) as the latest BC player to claim the WHEA’s top rookie laurel.

“Andie obviously had a great year last year,” Crowley said. “She really came on when we needed some help. She certainly came on strong for us, and has continued to do that this year. I think a lot of kids really enjoy playing with her, really want to be on her line, because she’ll set people up.”

Of Anastos’ classmate and campus roommate, the skipper offered, “Haley is feisty, and I think that’s something she continues from her Honeybaked days. She has really done a good job for us this year. She’s a kid who will shoot from anywhere, puts pressure on the other team with our forecheck and with the way she can skate.”

Crowley was courteously cautious when she underscored the common threads between the two rookies and Stack. Keller and Sullivan have ample time to burgeon, but each bring enticing skill sets and backgrounds bearing shades of the decorated Honeybaked pioneer.

Both saw action on U.S. 18-and-under national team last season, claiming silver at the World Championships. Entering this weekend, Sullivan is second among Hockey East freshmen with eight goals and 13 points.

“Tori has a little bit of a different style than we have,” Crowley said. “She sees the ice really well, and is kind of similar to a stack in that she slows down the game a bit when she has the puck and makes a really nice play.”

She added, “Keller has obviously been able to play with the national team a bit, and is a good, solid defender. She’s a big, strong kid who sees the ice really well.”

Twice in a lifetime?

While Stack spent her senior year leading BC to its most ornate season so far, the four future Eagles back in Michigan were fast-tracking to their top pre-collegiate memory together.

Anastos’ hat trick spelled the difference in Honeybaked’s 3-0 victory over the Chicago Mission in the 2011 16-and-under USA Hockey national championship game. It was the first title of its kind in any age group for the program.

Anastos and McLean also teamed up on a Michigan District title run at the 14-and-under level in 2009 and in the 19-and-under group in 2012. Sullivan went to additional national dances in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

But none of the four won another title before graduating the elite youth ranks. The passage of time and the change of scenery have more than honed their hunger to stir a sequel on NCAA ice.

“Winning the national championship back on 16-U was definitely the highlight of my hockey career,” said McLean, “especially because I was able to share the moment with Andie, Meg and Tor, who I have always been very close with.

“Knowing we have a shot at it again is awesome especially because it is something — I think — every college athlete dreams of. Winning a championship with your best friends is something special that we would remember for a lifetime.”

McLean’s word choice in that last sentence would have one believe she has yet to savor national glory with Anastos, Keller or Sullivan. Perhaps that is proof of the fresh-sheet mentality she and the other three are harboring.

They have already played a role in bringing home one elite program’s first national crown. Now all four are fastidiously bent on remaking their own triumphant narrative with new costumes, a new setting, a new supporting cast and new challenges.

They will have a maximum of three chances to deliver their dream as a group at Chestnut Hill. Not that they are showing any unnecessary patience. Even now, in the young months of their working reunion, they are forming an infectious, impactful nucleus for the rest of the roster.

“The four of them are together all the time,” said Crowley. “They were friends before they were teammates, and they’ve been through a lot of different things together.

“I think it only helps your team. They’re a great group that everybody wants to be around, so it’s something that as a coach, you know those four kids are good leaders — even though they’re young — and they’re good people as well as good hockey players.”

“We try to recruit good people and good players, and to get that combination, we’ve been very fortunate with these kids.”

 

This article originally appeared on Along the Boards

Clarkson’s Shannon MacAulay leading champs through challenges

The reality of offseason overhaul reached a cracking point by the final buzzer Oct. 18 at Cheel Arena. The Clarkson University women’s hockey team had just endured a two-game sweep via the visiting Boston University, dropping to 3-3-0 on the year.

Up to that point, the menace’s insistent knocking had gone unanswered, and was even muffled at times. The defending national champions had claimed a respectable split with local rival St. Lawrence and blanked Providence for a full 120 minutes.

In turn, they were kicking ice chips over the fact that they had lost four of their top five scorers, one key defender, minute-munching goaltender Erica Howe and one of their co-coaches. Ditto their season-long limit of 16 skaters, even with perfect health up and down the depth chart.

But through their first encounter with a fellow 2014 NCAA tournament participant, they brooked a little more damage to the door. Reality raided, impelling junior captain Shannon MacAulay to evoke her beyond-her-years intangibles for the first time.

“After BU, it was just a bit of a wakeup call for us and a learning curve,” MacAulay told Along the Boards via e-mail. “We knew we had to be better, and it wasn’t going to be easy.

“We definitely have come together more as a team since that weekend, and have had more energy all around. We worked hard to get better in practice, and have since realized how good we can be if we are all bringing that work ethic.”

The scoreboard does not object. The Golden Knights have since redressed their room by reeling off five consecutive victories. They have run up a 25-3 scoring differential in that span, never allowing more than one goal in a single venture.

The turnaround began six nights after the 5-2 falter before BU. None other than MacAulay broke the ice 21 seconds into regulation, added two assists as part of a four-goal first period, then completed her playmaker hat trick to finalize a 9-0 drubbing of Syracuse.

She proceeded to charge up another three-assist outing, a three-goal performance, a goal-assist variety pack and a power-play equalizer in a come-from-behind, 2-1 triumph over Yale.

With 14 points, MacAulay has had a hand in 56 percent of the scoring in Clarkson’s last five games. Her cumulative 9-9-18 scoring log through 11 games overall ties her for second in the nation with Minnesota’s Hannah Brandt.

“It was definitely with the help of my teammates,” she insisted. “Like I said, I think our team has come together quite a bit, and because of that, it has allowed me to be successful.

“For me now, it’s just a matter of focusing on continuing to play this way and keeping my game simple.”

Exactly the exemplary representation the Knights were keen on tapping into as far back as last March.

Advanced preparation

Clarkson crumbled a geographic barrier at the 2014 Frozen Four, becoming the first program other than Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth or Wisconsin to win a national title in the sport’s 14-history under NCAA auspices.

Based on the 2013-14 Golden Knights’ makeup, there was all but a now-or-never feel to the run.

Four prolific producers in Jamie Lee Rattray, Brittany Styner, Carly Mercer and Vanessa Gagnon all took their last hurrah with the 5-4 title victory over the two-time champion Gophers. So, too, did a solid depth striker in Shelby Nisbet, along with Howe in net and Vanessa Plante on defense.

On top of that, co-coach Shannon Desrosiers stepped down for maternity leave after six seasons of split duties with husband Matt.

Too much forethought was a nonexistent notion in the search to replenish that leadership. In the afterglow of the championship, six months before reconvening, Matt Desrosiers queried his returnees on captaincy candidates for 2014-15.

“Shannon’s name repeatedly came up in conversations with her teammates as someone the players felt would be a strong leader and captain,” he recalled in a message to ATB.

The Knights would return four seniors and four juniors this autumn, including a world-class two-way talent in Erin Ambrose. But with the dense smattering of seniors the year prior, none had donned a letter of leadership in their collegiate careers.

Translation: Anything was possible, and MacAulay accepted that.

“I knew, coming into this year, that I had a good chance at taking on a leadership role,” she said. “I had prepared myself for that.

“It was still obviously a pleasant surprise getting the “C,” and I am honored to have received this as a junior.”

That honor came with an obligation to accelerate her output and foster an infectious attack habit. Of the two juniors and one senior on Clarkson’s offensive corps, MacAulay was the career production leader with 40 points in 77 games at the start of this season.

With only three full forward lines, a viable title defense will inevitably require every returnee’s maturity to translate to Gagnon-, Mercer- and Styner-esque numbers.

Roughly one-third of the way through the 34-game regular season, MacAulay is already two points away from swelling her career total by 50 percent. Her two linemates since the start of the current five-game winning streak, sophomores Genevieve Bannon and Cayley Mercer, have matching 7-9-16 transcripts for second on the team.

Other than senior Christine Lambert, the rest of the offense has yet to break double digits under the 2014-15 point heading. But Lambert, who had centered MacAulay’s line until after the BU series, has a precedent for leading by example on her new unit.

The Knights have replenished their success by spreading their seasoning, which starts at the top of the line chart.

“(MacAulay) has the respect of the players and coaching staff, as she brings a good effort every day and sets a good example for everyone to follow,” said Desrosiers. “She has shown the ability to communicate well with both her teammates and the coaching staff, which is a very important quality to have as a captain.

“Her teammates respect her and look to her for help and guidance, which is exactly what you want from your captain.”

Embracing the target

Unlike Desrosiers, MacAulay tends to speak to her leadership qualities through a plural narration. When she is not imparting inspiration or mediating advice, she serves as a prototypical voice box for Clarkson’s collective cause.

Sporting the “defending champions” label compounds the trial of maxing out the talent on a permanently short bench. But MacAulay wants to oversee an operation that sports the collective confidence of surplus skaters and the thirst of a program bereft of banners.

“We are a team that makes it tough for other teams to play against,” she said. “We need to make sure we’re playing this way no matter who it is we play in our league. Every game will be a battle, and to stay on top in our league, you have to come out ready to give a good battle.”

For every Knight eyeing MacAulay’s example, there promises to be a formidable adversary eyeing the same statement the Terriers issued in the mid-October nonconference set.

No fewer than four other ECAC programs have a contender’s composition. Not unlike the three-time Hockey East champions, they want to usurp the task of keeping the NCAA trophy on their side of the Great Lakes.

Come March 8, there will only be eight openings for that privilege across the nation.

If everything lives up to preseason logic, Cornell, Harvard, Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence will all vie for the ECAC title and/or an at-large national tournament bid. They will combine to confront Clarkson seven more times on the remaining league schedule.

“Facing some top teams like Harvard will be huge games for us,” MacAulay allowed. “We will need to want those two points more than they do.”

The Crimson, this year’s preseason coaches’ favorite, will bookend rest of the slate by visiting Potsdam this Friday and hosting the regular-season finale Feb. 21.

In the former game, they will try to hatch the “L” column goose-egg in the Knights’ 3-0-0 ECAC record. By the latter meeting, the difference between dependence on the automatic bid that comes with the conference crown and an at-large cushion could be at stake.

But in one more testament to MacAulay’s captaincy credentials, she zeroed back in on Clarkson’s control panel.

“Overall, we have handled the first month very well, considering we had quite a bit of work to do in the preseason to prepare,” she said. “We’re in a pretty decent spot right now in the standings, and we’re hoping we can just get better every weekend.”

This article originally appeared on Along the Boards