Boston University won the Beanpot again, of course.
The Terriers scored twice on their first five shots, cutting right at the heart and soul of Husky hockey — goalie Keni Gibson. Northeastern clawed, scratched, dug and fought its way back with a heroic effort, tying the score with just 2:05 left.
But it was BU’s Chris Bourque that scored the overtime winner, of course.
That’s the way it is and always will be. Terriers win Beanpots (26 of 53 now, to be exact, including nine of the last 11). Huskies don’t win much of anything (at least not since “Who’s The Boss?” graced airwaves).
There were three prevailing waves of emotion for Northeastern fans during Monday’s championship game. The first and last, naturally, were profound sadness.
When BU captain Brian McConnell deflected the puck past Gibson in the first period to give BU its 2-0 edge, the Dog House contingency was taken completely out of the game. The BU crowd taunted them, chanting “Safety school” and “We can’t hear you” before enthusiastically pointing to the Northeastern side while screaming, “Hey, you suck!”
All the Husky fans could do was stand and take it.
“The Huskies don’t seem to be doing well, they’re down two-oh after the first period,” a reporter near me remarked into his phone.
He has no idea.
Then something funny happened. Halfway through the second period, I turned to News staff writer Jeff Powalisz and said, “Wouldn’t it be strange if Jon Awe scored?”
He did, igniting a furious rally and awakening the Hound supporters in the process. Northeastern charged, fought and refused to give up in the third period. As the clock dwindled, I could see the writing on the wall. Sure, they’d end up outshooting BU. They’d even end up outplaying the Terriers. But they’d lose.
Then, with 2:05 left in the game, as I was writing down how funny it was to see 5-foot-6 inch Northeastern forward Jared Mudryk take a faceoff against 5-foot-5 inch Terrier Brad Zancanaro, Northeastern tied the game.
Against BU. Late. In the Beanpot. Elation from the Dog House. Absolute silence from BU.
“I can’t believe I just saw that,” my notebook reads.
Sadly, I could believe what I saw with five minutes left in overtime.
A BU shot from the wing. Gibson diving to save it. The puck popping out front. Gibson out of position; a Terrier forward in position. Gibson diving. The Terriers celebrating.
More Northeastern sadness.
And with that, we welcome a whole new generation of suffering Northeastern hockey fans — the 17th, to be exact. There will be an 18th, a 19th … a 30th? I followed Mike Trocchi and Andy Cuneo as hockey beat writers who failed to cover a Beanpot championship. Barring a miracle ‘Pot win next year, without Gibson and other key seniors like Jason Guerriero, Tim Judy, Mudryk, Donny Grover and Jon Awe, Powalisz will follow me as the next of kin. All of this made reading today’s Daily Free Press (BU’s student paper) all the more insulting and painful.
“It’s often said that you don’t really realize how much something means to you until it’s gone,” an article by Joe Rouse said of how his Terriers lost the Beanpot last year. “When it comes to Beanpots, I don’t think I realized how much it meant to me until we won it back Monday night.”
“During the overtime period, I couldn’t help but think about the disappointment that would come with losing again,” the article later read. “This senior class could graduate winning only two Beanpots.”
“If we were to lose again next year, I could graduate seeing one win, which came in my freshman year before I really understood what winning the Beanpot meant.”
I cannot legally use language to describe how these passages sound to the thousands of Northeastern athletes, fans, administrators, alumni and, yes, even student media who care so deeply and have gotten so little.
There will be Beanpot disappointments that hurt more than Monday’s for Northeastern.
But there won’t be any that teased more.
– Jack Weiland can be reached at [email protected].
