By: Jason Mastrodonato, News Staff
For the past 23 years, the Beanpot has been a sour subject for Northeastern fans, students and alumni alike.
While NU’s rival, Boston University, has bathed in Beanpot success over three decades, reaching the tournament championship game in 26 of the past 28 seasons, the Huskies have been left splashing around in the kiddie pool.
Northeastern last won the tournament in 1988 and has since played for the title five times out of 23 tries, including a heartbreaking loss to BU in 2009, when the Huskies were within one point to win until two shorthanded goals for the Terriers once again sent Northeastern back to the bottom of the Beanpot foursome.
“Unfortunately, those were the memories for a lot of Northeastern people over the last 20 years,” said head coach Greg Cronin. “The near misses.”
But after a decisive 4-0 victory over Harvard in Monday night’s Beanpot opener at TD Garden, the Huskies will return to the title game, looking to build on its tournament-worst four championships – BU leads with 29, Boston College has 15, Harvard has 10.
Northeastern will take on No. 1-ranked BC, which needed overtime to skate to a 3-2 victory over BU in the night cap, next Monday night in the Beanpot finale.
“Guys like Tyler [McNeely] and Wade [MacLeod] and all the rest of the team, it was in their minds,’’ goaltender Chris Rawlings said of the team’s recent disappointing Beanpot efforts. “But that was in the past. Now it’s completely different. We’re not too worried about what happened in the Beanpot years ago. It’s a new year and we’re going out and playing.”
Harvard (4-18-0) put pressure on Rawlings early, ripping off 17 first-period shots and nearly beating him on several rebound chances.
But Rawlings was resistant, stopping 41 shots on the way to his fourth shutout in five games.
“I thought it would be a low-scoring game, and [Harvard] threw a lot of pucks to the net and we knew that [would happen],” Cronin said. “I thought our defense did a good job clearing out the front. And [Rawlings] was terrific.”
The 6-foot-5 sophomore goalie from British Columbia has five shutouts on the season, just one behind NCAA leader John Faulkner of Nebraska-Omaha. Rawlings is also third in the nation with a .934 save percentage, just .001 away from the top spot held by John Muse of Boston College.
“He’s a great goalie,” Cronin said. “I’ve said that all along. Chris is getting offers from NHL teams [which are] poking around him. He’s a pro-type of goalie. He has a really good future ahead of him.”
Junior forward Mike McLaughlin got the scoring started for the Huskies, cutting through two Crimson defensemen before beating Harvard goalie Ryan Carroll in the first period. McLaughlin scored again in the second, when his shot took a bizarre bounce off Carroll that went air-bound before landing behind the goaltender and giving NU the 2-0 lead.
“I’d been telling myself a lot lately to shoot the puck more, particularly this year because last year I didn’t have a lot of luck,’’ said McLaughlin, whose ninth goal of the year bested the one he scored a season ago. “I seemed to hit a lot of posts and miss the net. So this year I’ve just been telling myself to shoot the puck, and I saw a lane and it just bounced off the goalie and went straight in the air.”
Senior forward Steve Silva and freshman forward Brodie Reid also scored for Northeastern, which improved to 9-11-6 overall.
Cronin said he was particularly happy to see his squad bounce back after a disheartening loss to No. 11 Merrimack three days prior to the Beanpot. The Huskies held a 3-2 lead until forward Joe Cucci tied things up midway through the final period, then scored his third goal of the game with 29 seconds left in overtime capped off the 4-3 loss.
“It was a huge game for us,’’ Cronin said. “In the locker room, they looked like they had been through a funeral; they were real down.”
He added, “I was just really worried about them getting back up, even though it was the Beanpot.”
With the win over Harvard Monday, Northeastern is 6-2-2 since the mid-season break, and has averaged 1.6 goals allowed since then.
Limited tickets for the Beanpot championship are available through the Office of Alumni Relations at $34 a piece, or through Ticketmaster.com, ranging from $41.45 to 54.45.
