The BU mens hockey team are right where they want to be. Tied atop the Hockey East standings and ranked No. 2 in the country, the Terriers are in prime position as they go deeper into the second half of the season.

This weekend is crucial for coach Quinn’s club as they look to continue to control their destiny. It begins Friday night at Agganis Arena, when archrival BC visits, and continues Sunday when two-time defending conference champ UMass-Lowell — who BU shares first place with — visits Agganis for a Sunday matinee.

The Eagles (12-7-2, 5-4-2 HE) sit four points behind the Terriers (12-3-4, 7-1-2) in the conference standings. BC is unbeaten in their last seven (5-0-2). They haven’t lost since November 29, a 1-0 setback to Providence. The Eagles have outscored opponents 23-11 over that stretch. Goaltender Thatcher Demko has stopped 164 of 172 shots (.953) in five games over that streak.

BU got the better of their friends from the other side of Comm Ave. in their initial meeting this season on November 7, when the Terriers prevailed, 5-3. However, this is a much different BC team than the one BU faced earlier in the season. The second semester is always the time of year when Jerry York has his team playing the brand of hockey that has made him the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division 1 hockey. This season appears to be no different.

The River Hawks, ranked sixth in the USCHO.com poll, is 7-1-2 in league play. Their lone blemish came last Saturday, when the ever-pesky UConn Huskies took a 2-0 decision in Hartford. Lowell has won the last two Hockey East championships and looks like a team that could win a third. The River Hawks rank second in the conference in offense behind BU (3.8 GPG) with 3.7 goals per game, their 1.8 goals allowed per game is bettered by only Providence (1.36). Their power-play ranks third in the conference with a 19.5 percent success rate.

Womens hockey takes trip down the Green Line

The sixth-ranked BU womens hockey team travels to Northeastern on Sunday. The Terriers have lost two of their last three. The Huskies (6-11-4, 5-6-1 HE) are winless in their last six games (0-5-1). Sunday marks the third meeting between the two schools this season. BU took the first meeting 3-2 on Oct. 28, before Northeastern got the better of the second matchup on Nov. 11 with a 6-3 win.

Womens basketball looks for two in a row

The BU womens basketball team snapped a nine-game skid Wednesday night with a 58-53 win over Colgate. Saturday they will aim for their first consecutive wins of 2014-15 when they host Loyola-Maryland Saturday afternoon at The Roof. The Terriers are 3-0 against the Greyhounds all-time. All three of those matchups came last season, BU’s first in Patriot League play. Two of them came at BU, the Terriers winning 74-55 and 40-35, the latter win coming in the first round of the conference tournament.

Mens basketball tries to get back on track

League play began as good for the BU mens basketball team as coach Joe Jones could draw it up.

The Terriers started Patriot League play with a 3-0 record, but have lost two straight since, dropping one-point decision to Lafayette, 63-62, before losing 62-53 to Colgate. They’ll travel to Baltimore to try to get back on track, when they face Loyola. The Terriers took both contests last season with the Greyhounds, 72-58 and 87-72.

TV Time

As it usually seems to be the case, the BU/BC game Friday night will be televised on NESN. Coverage begins at 6:30.

During commercial breaks and between periods, be sure to flip to NBC Sports Network and check in on Notre Dame/UConn, which will be televised on the network. The Fighting Irish sit in sixth place in the league standings (4-2-2) while the Huskies sit one point behind in seventh and have racked up impressive wins against Quinnipiac, BC, Vermont, Union and UMass-Lowell. They tied BU at Agganis on November 8, 4-4. Both teams should have a big say in how things shake up come March.