Sports of Boston » Beanpot

Boston University, Boston College Advance to Beanpot Final

Taylor — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:44:40 +0000

The Boston University Terriers (17-8-1) and Boston College Eagles (17-10-1) each advanced to next Monday’s Beanpot final, dispatching the Harvard Crimson (7-7-9) and Northeastern Huskies (11-12-3) respectively at the TD Garden in Boston, Mass.

BU advanced to the title game with a 3-1 triumph over Harvard, while BC obliterated Northeastern 7-1. The game will be the 21st time BU and BC will play for the Beanpot Championship, with the Terriers possessing 12-8 series lead. It will also be their fourth match up of the year, with BU having won two of the first three match ups.

BostonUniversity 3, Harvard 1

Wade Megan led the offensive attack with a pair of goals, while BU goalie Kieran Millan turned away 29 of 30 shots en route to a 3-1 Boston University victory on Monday night.

The Terriers jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 8:14 in, registering the first goal of the tournament on a neat Alex Nieto wrap around goal to beat Crimson goalie Steve Michalek. Alex Chiasson and Sean Escobedo each garnered assists on the play.

BU was able to extend their lead to 2-0 with 12:30 remaining in the second period, capitalizing on the man advantage. Sahir Gill passed to Escobedo, who found Megan who buried home the game-winner. The residents of Commonwealth Avenue took a 3-0 lead less than seven minutes later when Megan tallied his second score on the night, receiving a second assist from Gill.

Millan would not be able to parlay the effort into a shutout however, as Harvard cut the deficit to 3-1 when Alex Killorn scored on the power play in the second period. Marshall Everson found Killorn in the slot, who rifled his shot past Millan for the final goal of the contest with 4:23 remaining in the second.

The Crimson attack peppered Millan in the third, but he stood tall saving all 10 Harvard shots in the final frame.

Harvard out shot the terriers 30-25 throughout, but Millan was up to the challenge to send the Terriers to the Beanpot Championship.

Boston College 7, Northeastern 1

The Boston College Eagles scored early and often, pummeling the Northeastern Huskies 7-1 in the night cap of the 2012 Beanpot. Paul Carey, Johnny Gaudreau, Steven Whitney each scored a pair of goals, while Barry Almeida notched his 17th scored of the year in the rout.

Parker Milner, Boston College’s goaltender, turned away 22 of 23 shots in his Beanpot debut.

BC’s special teams dominated the action throughout, scoring two power play goals and twice shorthanded to generate the disparity in the score. The Eagles’ speed and talent was on display all evening, doubling the Huskies with a 46-23 advantage in shots, and constantly forcing Northeastern defenders into mistakes in their own end.

Carey gave the Eagles an early edge just 5:14 in, beating NU netminder Chris Rawlings on his glove hand side for the 1-0 lead. Freshman defender Josh Manson turned the puck over near his own blueline to Pat Mullane, who found Johnny Gaudreau before he showcased a beautiful feed back to Carey in the slot for the game’s first tally.

Gaudreau doubled the Eagle’s advantage to 2-0 with 10:17 remaining in the first, stripping Northeastern defender Luke Eibler near the Huskies’ bench. Gaudreau skated in on Rawlings, and snuck a shot through the junior goaltender’s five-hole for the two-goal lead.

BC would let NU creep back into the contest with back-to-back penalties assessed to Chris Kreider and Whitney. The Huskies answered the call with the 5-on-3 advantage, with Anthony Bitteto one-timing a Ludwig Karlson pass to cut the score to 2-1. Garrett Vermeersh recorded a second assist on the play.

After six minutes of back-and-forth play in the second stanza, NU was awarded the man advantage at 5:43 after Kreider was whistled for his second penalty of the evening, a hitting from behind call. But another Huskies mistake near the Northeastern bench resulted in a shorthanded 2-on-1 opportunity for the Eagles, who ounce again pounced on the opportunity to take a 3-1 lead. Patch Alber wrestled the puck away from Bitteto, and found a streaking Alemida down the right side who fired a perfect pass to Whitney in the slot to beat Rawlings 6:41 in the second.

A little over two minutes later, Gaudreau put Boston College up 4-1 on a rebound opportunity after Alber’s shot from the right side ricocheted off the blocker of Rawlings, forcing NU to take their timeout.

Four and a half minutes later, the Eagles continued to convert NU errors when Almeida careened a Justin Daniels turnover once again in front of the Northeastern bench, and skated up the ice on a 2-on-1 opportunity. The senior needed not pass however, firing a pair of shots before beating Rawlings upstairs on the glove side for the 5-1 edge.

Backup goaltender Clay Witt entered in the third, but fared no better against a relentless Boston College attack. Barry Alemeida’s second goal of the night with occurred on the powerplay 8:43 remaining, assisted by Brian Dumoulin and Whitney. Carey capped the BC scoring with 2:40 remaining, notched his second goal with helpers from McCleod and Shea.

BC Tops Northeastern in OT to Win Beanpot

KC Downey — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:52:23 +0000

The last three years, the champion of the Beanpot has gone on to win the national championship (BC in ’08, BU in ’09, BC in ’10). I think it’s safe to say, though, if Northeastern managed to win their first Beanpot since 1988 on Monday night that streak would be broken (ouch).

Boston College, the No. 1 ranked team in the country, showed why they’re on top, winning their second straight Beanpot in an overtime thriller over the Huskies, 7-6. It was the first time the Eagles won consecutive Beanpot crowns since they won it three straight years back from 1963-65.

“You have to throw the records out,” said the always-humble BC coach Jerry York. “They’re 5-2-1 in their last eight games. That was a pretty formidable opponent we played.”

BC’s Chris Kreider tallied two goals and an assist and was named tournament MVP.

Northeastern had tied it with 1:46 to go in a wild third period. Wade MacLeod slashing the puck past BC goalie John Muse to tie the game for a sixth time. The Huskies nearly won it with two great chances under a minute to go in regulation.

For those of you looking out for the local boys, Northeastern’s Rob Dongara scored the shorthanded goal to give NU a 3-2 lead early in the second period. The play, which was pretty shocking, made the SportsCenter Top 10 (#7). Dongora is from Scituate and went to BC High.

Huskies goalie Chris Rawlings made 39 saves in the loss.

Harvard Shocks BU in Consolation Game

This part is difficult to write as a Terrier alum, but I will do my best. For the first time since 1980, the Boston University Terriers placed fourth in the Beanpot after they fell to Harvard 5-4. BU took a 4-3 lead when Alex Chiasson beat Crimson goalie Ryan Carroll for a second time at 14:05 of the third period.

Harvard responded with two quick goals with less than five minutes to play in regulation. Harvard’s Danny Biega and Michael Del Mauro did the honors, beating BU goalie Kieran Millan.

“That was an embarrassing display by my team. We didn’t come to play,” BU coach Jack Parker said.

Harvard improved to just 5-18-1, and their victory over BU (14-9-7) will seriously dampen the Terriers’ chances of making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.

BU, winners of a record 29 Beanpots, placed last for only the fourth time in 59 years. In their last fourth place finish in 1980, Terriers Mike Eruzione, David Silk, Jack O’Callahan and Jim Craig were representing the U.S. in the Lake Placid Olympics.

Poll of the Week: Who Do You Like in the Beanpot?

Dan Davis — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 07:09:29 +0000

The Beanpot college hockey tournament is a Boston institution, an annual tournament where the four biggest hockey schools in the Boston area face off. This year’s final takes place Monday night, featuring Boston College against Northeastern for the championship, while Boston University faces Harvard in the consolation game.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

BC Captures Beanpot, Returns to Top 10

Mike — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:52:34 +0000

Boston College built a 4-1 lead and turned back BU’s two goal rally before the Terriers could tie the game to capture the school’s 15th Beanpot Tournament Championship, and second in three years. BC and BU have now split four games this season in four different venues with BC winning at BU and at the TD Banknorth Garden and BU winning at Fenway Park and Chestnut Hill. The rivals could meet again in the Hockey East playoffs in March. In the consolation game, Northeastern fell behind 1-0, but rallied and never looked back in a 4-1 win to capture third place.

Eagles Once Again Getting Most National Attention

BC returned to number ten in the latest USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll (which predates the Beanpot games) and is once again the top representative out of Hockey East. Maine, like the Eagles, jumped four spots to take over 12th after a sweep of conference leading New Hampshire, sending the Wildcats down two rungs to 15th. Vermont held steady at 17, UMass dropped three spots to 18, and UMass-Lowell fell two spots to barely hang in the poll at 20. The top four was unchanged with Minnesota holding number one with 46 of 50 first place votes. Denver and Wisconsin held second and third with three and one top votes, respectively. St. Cloud State hung on to fourth and Bemidji State took over fifth, giving the state of Minnesota three of the top five in the poll.

In addition to Maine’s sweep, BC beat UMass in another battle of top four teams in Hockey East. BU and Merrimack each beat UMass-Lowell while Northeastern, in turn, beat Merrimack. Vermont took three of four points from Providence as well. With four weeks remaining, some separation is emerging with divides after the top four and the second four. UNH leads the way with 27 points with BC and Maine each three back and UMass five back of the Wildcats at 22 points. With 18 points, BU, Vermont, and UMass-Lowell are in a logjam at fifth and Northeastern is only one point behind, in eighth place. Merrimack, at 14 points, and Providence, with 10, are ninth and tenth in the league.

Opportunities to Move Up (or Down) Abound This Weekend

Hockey East will pair off this week and each twosome will play a pair of games, except for New Hampshire and Providence, who will play only a single game. With each series meaning four points, teams could make a big push up in the standings or find themselves plummeting. BC and UMass-Lowell stage a home-and-home series as do Northeastern and UMass. Meanwhile, Maine visits BU for a pair and Merrimack travels to the Green Mountains for two games in Vermont.

BC, BU Advance to Beanpot Final, UHN Leads Bunched Group in Poll

Mike — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:40:19 +0000

BC and BU will meet in next week’s 58th Beanpot final after each advanced Monday night by beating Harvard and Northeastern respectively. The Terriers and Eagles will meet in the final for the sixth time in last seven tourneys that the feat was possible (excluding the years when BC-BU is played on the first week). BC and Harvard danced for one period before the Eagles put the game away in the second and held on for the 6-0 shutout. The Terriers had a much more difficult time with Northeastern, finally pulling out a 2-1 win in the third period in an evening thriller. BU peppered the Huskies with multiple flurries, which they withstood, but the Terriers had just a little too much. BC will be gunning for its 15th title in its 29th finals appearance while the Terriers will be going for number 30 in their 47th championship game. The game next week will mark the fourth venue that the Commonwealth Ave. rivals will have played at this season. They have played at both Conte Forum and Agganis Arena, as well as Fenway Park and now the TD Banknorth Garden.

Poll Voters Seem Unsure How to Separate Hockey East Teams

The pollsters in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll continue to show respect to Hockey East by ranking six of the ten teams in the Top 20. However, they seem to have difficulty separating them from each other. As the teams continue to inflict losses on one another, they have been bunching more and more in the second half of the poll. Most of the teams have consistently stayed in the second ten with BC or UNH primarily checking into the Top 10 now and then. This week, the six teams are ranked consecutively from 13 though 18, in order: UNH, BC, UMass, Maine, Vermont, and UMass-Lowell.

As for the national picture, Miami held onto the top spot with 43 of 50 votes. Denver leapt over Wisconsin, taking six of the remaining seven first place votes, as the Badgers held onto the final vote and fell only to third. St. Cloud State moved up one spot to fourth and Cornell moved back into the top five, up from eighth.

League Powers Continue to Knock Each Other Around

True to the poll, the league members can build no momentum as evidenced again this week. Only last place Providence seems vulnerable at the moment as they fell to both BC and UMass this week. However, even Merrimack is not an easy out, despite their ninth place standing, as they split with conference leader UNH this weekend. In other action, BU beat UMass, Maine took three of four points from Vermont, and Northeastern beat UMass-Lowell in their Beanpot tuneup.

Coming this week in games not involving the Beanpot, UNH has two games in Maine and BC plays at UMass in games that could further jumble the home ice prospects for the top teams. BU continues to climb as UMass-Lowell continues to slip and they will face each other. The River Hawks will also travel to Merrimack and likewise for Northeastern. Finally, Vermont will make the weekend trip, one of the longest among conference opponents, to Providence for two games.

A quick look at the standings shows UNH with 27 points and a five point cushion, making a split in that Maine series very important for them to pull away. BC and UMass have 22 points each while Maine has 20 to wrap the top four, who would have home ice in the first round of the playoffs right now. UMass-Lowell is fifth with 18 points with BU sixth with 16. Vermont and Northeastern are tied with 15 points and would round out the playoff field. Merrimack is three points out right now and Providence trails the Warriors by three with nine points.

BU Drops BC as Beanpot Looms

Mike — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:56:20 +0000

The seasons of the Terriers and Eagles are on opposite trajectories now. BU had a very tough start, but is rebounding lately and has now beaten their arch-rival in the last two meetings. They won the Fenway Classic and took out the Eagles in Chestnut Hill in a 5-4 overtime game. Meanwhile, BC seems to have peakedin December when they ripped off their big win streak. The Beanpot semifinals are Monday, February 1 with BU taking on Northeastern and BC taking on Harvard. With the Terriers hitting their stride now, is another Beanpot Championship in the offing?

Meanwhile, in the latest USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll, Hockey East continues to place a number of teams in the second half of the top 20. This week, New Hampshire is the league’s top cat at 13 with BC, UMass, UMass-Lowell, and Vermont filing in line right behind them at 14 through 17 while Maine is at 19. Miami reclaimed the top spot overall with 37 of 50 first place votes and Wisconsin earned eight top votes to inch up one spot as well to second. Denver, the former number one, took the other five first place votes while dropping two spots to third. North Dakota moved up one spot to fifth and St. Cloud State was up seven spots to fifth. Bemidji State, at number seven, was also up seven spots.

UNH Beginning to Separate From Pack

The Wildcats have quietly been playing well, having now won four in a row, to take a five point lead in Hockey East. They won both games this week, over BU and Providence, as part of that streak. The Friars had a dreadful week, losing all three contests, including two in overtime, to UNH, Northeastern, and Merrimack. UMass and Vermont split their series in Amherst and UMass-Lowell swept its weekend, beating Merrimack and Boston College.

Looking at the standings, UNH is leading with 25 points with UMass and BC sitting on 20. UMass-Lowell has 18 points and Maine has 17 points to round out the top half of the league. Vermont and BU have 14 points each and Northeastern 13 to complete the playoff picture (if the playoffs began today). Merrimack at 10 points and Providence at nine are on the outside looking in at the moment.

This week in Hockey East, aside from the Beanpot games on Monday, UNH and Merrimack play a home-and-home series. Providence and BC will each try to get back on winning streaks as they face off. The Friars will then play host to UMass, who also visits BU. Maine travels to Vermont for two games and UMass-Lowell and Northeastern will do battle.

Beanpot Live Blog

Jeff Christenbury — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:56:27 +0000

No. 1 ranked Boston University knocked off a pesky Harvard team in a 4-3 thriller in the first game of the Beanpot. Jason Lawrence scored with about 1:30 to go on the power play to give BU the lead. Northeastern breezed past BC 6-1 in the nightcap to make for a big matchup for the Beanpot crown next week: BU vs. Northeastern.

Read below to view the archives of the live blog held during the Beanpot action.

Beanpot Blog

Live Blog of the Beanpot – Today at 5pm

Jeff Christenbury — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:57:17 +0000

It’s that time of year again. The first two weeks in February mean one thing, THE BEANPOT, college hockey’s best mini-tournament.

I will be live blogging the BU-Harvard game starting at 5pm today. BU – admittedly my Alma mater – is looking for its 29th Beanpot and comes in as the new No. 1 ranked team in the country.

The game is on NESN so check it out and chat it up with me!

Beanpot Final Will Feature BC and Harvard

KC Downey — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:16:05 +0000

For the first time in 14 years, the Boston University Terriers will not participate in the 56th annual Beanpot Final, which will be played next Monday.

My Terriers lost to the No. 9 Boston College Eagles 4-3 in overtime on an overtime goal by Nathan Gerbe. Gerbe was skating toward the net when he slapped the puck by goalie Brett Bennett at 7:15 of overtime. Bennett had a career-high 30 saves for the Terriers.

BU got goals from Nick Bonino, John McCarthy, and Pete MacArthur. BC countered with goals from Anthony Aiello, Benn Ferriero and a late power-play goal from Gerbe in the 3rd period. Gerbe added the game-winner in OT for his second goal of the game.

The Eagles will be playing the Harvard Crimson after beating the No. 14 Northeastern Huskies 3-1. The Crimson got their 3 goals in the first seven minutes of play from Paul Dufault, Mike Taylor, and Doug Rogers. The Huskies got their lone goal in the 2nd period from Ryan Ginand.

Harvard will be making its first appearance in the Beanpot Final in 10 years and will face BC. BU will face Northeastern in the 3rd place consolation game.