Beanpot Push Comes Up Short
Terriers fall to Eagles, 4 to 3
In the slide show above, scenes from the final round of the Beanpot. Photos by Melody Ko, Kristyn Ulanday (COM’10), and Brian Fryburg (CAS’10)
The speed of play surprised no one. The physicality could have been predicted. In 38 previous Beanpot matchups, the BU Terriers and the BC Eagles set a standard for velocity and punishment. And so it went last night, in the 58th Beanpot championship at the TD Garden, 60 minutes of skilled stickwork, stunning skate work, and full-on aggression.
With 6 minutes and 24 seconds left in the first period, Terrier defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (CAS’11) snagged an imperfect pass from the Eagles’ defense, turned it around, and launched a well-aimed rocket, giving the Terriers the first mark. The period ended with the Terriers one goal up but two men down, both killing precious seconds in the penalty box. BU ruled on the scoreboard, but BC was in charge of the ice.
One minute into the second period, BC freshman Stephen Whitney intercepted an effort to clear the puck and flipped a shoulder-high shot passed BU goalie Kieran Millan (CAS’12). A scramble in front of the Terrier goal 12 minutes later sent the puck skimming to the right point, where Eagles defenseman Carl Sneep fired it back with a deadly slap shot. The score changed again: 2-1, Eagles.
Next up, Eagles left wing Chris Kreider danced down the boards and soared into the Eagles defensive zone, crossing the ice and tossing a quick backhand into the Terriers’ net. A rough game got rougher.
Four and half minutes into period three, BC sophomore Barry Almeida deceived the Terrier defense and fought his way to the goal, wristing the puck by Millan. BU fans looked up and saw four goals for BC, and only one for BU.
Halfway through the third, with BU on the short end of a power play, David Warsofsky (CGS’10) collected a pass from Zach Cohen (CAS’10) and fired the puck into the Eagles net.
There was hope, and 10 minutes for that hope to turn into something tangible. It was halfway realized. With 2 minutes and 46 seconds left on the clock, Colby Cohen (CAS’11) began the conversion process, with deft flick of the puck. One goal down, and two minutes to go, BU turned loose the furies and pulled the goalie one more time. There were several shots and a mad scramble in front of the BC net, but as the clock ticked down, the Eagles cleared the puck from their zone, and with it the hope of Terrier fans for yet another miracle finish.
In the final round of the women’s Beanpot tournament, the BU women’s ice hockey team takes on BC at 5 p.m. today in the consolation game at Bright Hockey Center, 79 N. Harvard St., Cambridge.
Check for more updates by following @BUAthletics on Twitter.
Art Jahnke can be reached at jahnke@bu.edu. Kimberly Cornuelle can be reached at kcornuel@bu.edu; follow her on Twitter at @kcornuel. Nathaniel Boyle can be reached at nboyle@bu.edu; follow him on Twitter at @nathanielboyle.
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