GameTracker | @BUGameDay

The No. 5/6 Boston University women’s ice hockey team will take the ice for its first exhibition contest of the season on Saturday when the Terriers host Queen’s University at Walter Brown Arena. Puck drop is slated for 3 p.m.

BU returns 19 letter winners and welcomes five freshmen to the 2014-15 roster, though six skaters will miss Saturday’s game while training with Hockey Canada in Calgary, Alberta. The Terriers will have their full complement of players for the regular-season opener on Oct. 3 against St. Cloud State. Missing from this weekend’s contest will be freshmen Victoria Bach and Rebecca Leslie, sophomore Samantha Sutherland, junior Sarah Lefort and seniors Shannon Doyle and Marie-Philip Poulin.

Three newcomers will don the Scarlet and White for the first time on Saturday, as freshmen Savannah Newton, Erin O’Neil and Anna Streifel are expected to take the ice. Newton will feature on defense, Streifel will likely play left wing and O’Neil will be between the pipes for BU. In addition, junior Kayla Tutino will return from a season-ending injury to play for the first time since she scored the game-winning goal on Nov. 24, 2013.

The Terriers are the preseason favorites to capture their fourth straight Hockey East championship and are ranked in the top 10 of both national polls this week. BU entered the USCHO.com poll at No. 6 and is ranked fifth in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll. Among the top 10 squads are six schools that will face the Terriers this season, including top-ranked Minnesota.

Queen’s will face BU as part of a two-game weekend at Walter Brown Arena; the Gaels will face Boston College on Friday night. Based in Kingston, Ontario, Queen’s plays as a member of Ontario University Athletics. The Gaels played three games last weekend as part of the Queen’s Invitational Tournament, winning two of the three tilts.

Saturday’s contest is the Terriers’ lone tune-up before the 2014-15 regular season starts next weekend (Oct. 3-4) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. BU will face St. Cloud State on Friday before taking on host Minnesota on Saturday. Both games will be at Ridder Arena.