By Chris Judd, News Staff
The men’s Beanpot final between Northeastern and Boston College came down to the wire. Both goalies kept their team in the game, but ultimately, the game was decided by a puck deflection for the Eagles.
“I liked the way our team played,” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan. “We competed hard, they battled for the whole game and through two periods I liked where we were. If you can be 1-1 or up a goal or down a goal going into the third period, you have a chance to win. I liked where we were going into that third period, we just couldn’t generate the offense.”
The first period was categorized by offense. Northeastern outshot BC 16-11 and both teams had several scoring opportunities.
Northeastern nearly scored the first goal of the seven minutes in when senior Cody Ferriero had the puck in the BC zone. He left a drop pass near the middle of the zone for freshman Ryan Belonger. Thatcher Demko made the initial save, but Belonger found the rebound on the left side of the net and blasted it in. However, freshman Tanner Pond dislodged the net when crashing, causing the refs to rule it a no goal.
BC scored two minutes later when Johnny Gaudreau came streaking down the right side. He went behind the red line and passed backwards to Kevin Hayes, who beat junior goalie Clay Witt through the five hole.
BC nearly opened up a two goal lead with five minutes left in the period when Witt was found out of position. Ryan Fitzgerald was open in the slot and fired a shot for the left side. Witt spun around and knocked the puck away with his stick.
The Huskies offense exploded with two minutes left. Snydeman fired a shot from outside the blue line which Demko saved. Szmatula was in the area and had a shot, but couldn’t convert. A strong Husky fore check kept the Huskies in the offensive zone for most of the rest of the period. With 21 seconds left, sophomore Mike McMurtry passed to sophomore Mike Gunn in the middle of the ice, who fired a slap shot. Demko made the save and Kevin Hayes had a breakaway. Witt went low and made the key save to make it 1-0 BC going into the second.
The Huskies continued getting pressure early in the second period. In a 3 on 2 rush, Szmatula passed to junior Adam Reid on the left side, who passed back to Szmatula. He was at the red line and could not put the puck in the net.
Witt preserved a one goal lead with about three minutes left in the period when a puck bounced up on him. He swatted it away with his stick to kill the offensive opportunity.
Northeastern tied the game up with 1:24 left in the second period when sophomore Kevin Roy forced a turnover in the offensive zone from Scott Savage. He took the puck to the front of the net and shot, but Demko made the play. Freshman John Stevens came in and hit a backhander from the right side to beat Demko and tie the game going into the third period.
Through two periods, the Huskies had 55 shot attempts to 41 by Boston College. The Huskies were swarming and had the majority of the offense through the first two periods, but couldn’t score.
“When it comes to big games like this, it is all about the little plays,” said senior Braden Pimm. “You have to bear down and make sure you finish your opportunities. We had the chances but we couldn’t bear down to get one by.”
The Eagles started to get more of the offense in the third period. While Northeastern still had chances, they had trouble sustaining pressure in the offensive zone.
“In the third period, we just couldn’t match their speed in that third and they came at us, and we didn’t have a correct response,” said Madigan. “I thought we did a good job on that winning goal in tying up Brown down at the net, and he was falling and we had his stick and somehow he got his stick on it.”
Snydeman had a breakaway a minute into the third when a pass bounced off the wall and past a defender. He tried to deke Demko and go right, but Demko made a glove save.
The Huskies had a good scoring opportunity eight minutes into the period when senior Braden Pimm had the puck on the sideboard. He fed it to Stevens behind the net, who passed to Roy in front, but couldn’t connect.
Witt made a couple saves in the final 10 minutes to keep it a one goal game. First, Gaudreau passed to Hayes in the slot with 10:50 left. Witt came up and made the save.
Five minutes later, Destry Straight took the puck around the crease with people in front and shot. Witt made the save.
The Eagles scored the game winning goal with 5:30 left in the game. Isaac MacLeod fired a shot from the blue line. Stevens knocked down Patrick Brown in front of the net, but Brown extended his stick and redirected the puck to the left side of Witt.
Gaudreau scored an empty net goal with 1:30 remaining in the game. Freshman Matt Benning had a turnover at the blue line. Gaudreau fired from his blue line, and scored.
The Eagles scored their final goal with 49 seconds left. Brown streaked down the right side, and beat Witt high and to the right.
