Beanpot Heartbreaker: Eagle Icemen Stop Terriers

The troubling news going into the first round of this year’s Beanpot was the final tallies of recent contests between the BU and BC icemen. In each of the past two years, the Eagles had taken Beanpot final victories over the Terriers. And this season, for the first time in seven years, the Terriers had lost all three of their matchups against their archrival.

Optimists could point to the good news: over the course of the season, the Terriers have been gaining ground in the Comm Ave clashes, climbing from a 5-9 loss on December 3 to a 2-5 loss the next night to a 2-3 loss three weeks ago. If the mathematical progression were any kind of prediction, the first game of the Beanpot, played last night at TD Garden, was within BU’s grasp.

After BU‘s first period goal, BU grads Caitlin Ducharm (CAS‘09) and Phil DiMartino (COM’09) share a smooch. Photo by Cydney Scott

Almost. The fast, furious, and physical battle ended in overtime lastnight, when Boston College scored a third goal and earned the privilegeof moving on. The Terriers went home, a little closer to victory overBC, but not close enough.

What the mathematical progression failed to foretell was the intensityand physicality that marked the latest round of the 59-year-oldBeanpot rivalry. Time and time again, the BC defense muscled down the Terrierlinemen, breaking up plays and forcing shots that were nowhere near thecage. With 5:23 left in the first period, the BC pressure paid off.Although Terrier defenseman David Warsofsky (CGS’10, MET’12) provedthat he had the reflexes to get a stick on a bullet-like shot fromEagles left wing Philip Samuelsson, the contact with Warsofsky’s sticktipped the puck into the Terrier net. It was bad luck, and it gave BCan early lead.

The Terriers’ answer was immediate. Just 48 seconds after the Eagles’goal, BU’s Wade Megan (CGS’12) flipped a wrist shot by BC netman JohnMuse. The first period ended in a hard-fought tie.

BU parent Rob Jenner (right) has a vantage point behind the BU bench and hockey coach Jack Parker (SMG’68, Hon.’97). Photo by Cydney Scott

Three minutes into the second period, Terrier forward Corey Trivino(MET’12) rode BU’s momentum home, nailing his sixth goal of the seasonand handing his team a one-goal lead that took them to the end ofperiod two.

It was BC forward Jimmy Hayes who, five minutes into the final period,launched a rocket over the left shoulder of Terrier goalie KieranMillan (MET’12). For BU, hope in the form of two back-to-backpenalties at the end of the third period came and went, and when theperiod ended, the 2-2 logjam sent the game into overtime. And that’swhere the Terriers’ Beanpot quest ended, when BC defenseman Tommy Crossdrove the puck home from just inside the blue line.

It was a hard gameto play, and a very hard game to lose.

The Beanpot consolationgame, between Boston University and Harvard, is at 5 p.m. next Monday, February 14. Boston College will meetNortheastern in the Beanpot final round at 8 p.m.; both games will be played at TDGarden.

Art Jahnke can be reached at jahnke@bu.edu.