Weekend Parking Advisory

The Boston University women's ice hockey team will begin its quest for a sixth Hockey East championship when the Terriers welcome New Hampshire to Walter Brown Arena for a best-of-three series that opens on Friday night at 7 p.m.

BU has been the most successful program in Hockey East tournament history, winning 20 games and a record five titles, including four straight from 2012-2015. The Terriers are looking to advance to the league semifinals for a record 10th consecutive year. They have advanced to the league's title tilt in five straight seasons and in six of the past seven years.

Friday and Saturday will be the fourth and fifth all-time playoff meetings between BU and UNH. The Terriers are 2-1 against the Wildcats, including a 9-1 quarterfinal victory in 2012. That was one of nine quarterfinal victories for BU, which has lost just once in the quarterfinals; that came last season in game two against Vermont, a 4-2 setback. They have outscored their opponents, 46-10 in those nine victories and have allowed two goals or less in all nine wins, with seven of those wins seeing BU allow one or zero goals.

BU (17-10-6, 12-8-4 WHEA) swept New Hampshire (13-17-2, 11-11-2 WHEA), 3-0, during the regular season, including a pair of wins earlier this month. The Terriers have won 14 straight games against the Wildcats since January of 2013 and have not lost at home to New Hampshire since Feb. 3, 2011.

February has been kind to the Terriers, as they are 4-0-1 in February, one of four teams in the country to remain unbeaten this month and the only league team to do so. They have scored an NCAA-best 27 goals for an NCAA-best average of 5.40 goals per game. BU also boasts the best power play in the country this month, clicking at 36.8 percent; only UNH has scored as many power-play goals (7) this month.

Junior Rebecca Leslie has been a big reason for the Terriers' success in February. Since Feb. 7, no other player in the country has more points (11) than Leslie, who has scored five goals and six assists this month. In the entire month, Leslie has averaged 2.20 points per game, tops in the nation, and only one player has recorded more total points (13), doing so in one more game. In fact, only two men's Division I players have averaged more points per game in February than Leslie.

UNH enters the playoffs having swept UConn this past weekend thanks to a pair of 4-1 victories. That sweep came on the heels of a stretch where the Wildcats were winless in five straight, including two losses to the Terriers.

Senior Jonna Curtis leads UNH in goals (20), assists (19) and points (39). Junior Julia Fedeski is next best in both assists (16) and points (22) while another junior defenseman, Amy Schlagel has scored 10 goals and added 10 assists for 20 points. Sophomore Hilary Cashin has started the last four games for UNH and enters the weekend with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

The Terriers will remain at Walter Brown Arena should they advance to the semifinals, as BU is the host for the 2017 Hockey East championship weekend. The semifinals are slated to take place on March 4 (1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.) with the championship contest set for March 5 at 1:30 p.m.