By Gordon Weigers, news correspondent
The Northeastern men’s hockey team was defeated by Boston University (BU) in overtime of the Beanpot final by a score of 4-3. NU erased a 3-1 deficit in the third period, but it wasn’t enough as BU scored less than one minute into overtime.
The Huskies came in second place for the 13th time in the Beanpot’s 63-year history. The last time NU won the Boston bragging rights was 1988.
Before playing BU, a two-game weekend series with the University of Maine was on the books. On Friday night, NU put four goals past junior goalie Matt Morris in the first period. Junior defenseman Colton Saucerman, sophomore forward Brendan Collier, freshman forward Dylan Sikura and sophomore forward Zach Aston-Reese all scored goals to make it 4-0 Huskies after the first. Sophomore forward Mike Szmatula scored the fifth goal and Sikura scored the sixth goal in NU’s 6-4 win over Maine.
Maine got the upper hand on Saturday night, defeating the Huskies 6-3. Redshirt sophomore goalie Derick Roy got the start in goal, but couldn’t keep up his hot streak. Sikura, junior forward Mike McMurtry and freshman defenseman Garret Cockerill scored for NU, but they were overshadowed by a hat trick from freshman forward Nolan Vesey of Maine. After a flight back to Boston, the Huskies shifted their focus to the Beanpot.
The stage was set for a Beanpot final showdown between two of the hottest teams in the nation. BU got on the board early in the first period on a breakaway goal by junior forward Mike Moran. Only 28 seconds later, sophomore forward John Stevens rifled a shot over the glove of junior goalie Matt O’Connor to tie the score at 1-1.
In the final minute of the first period, freshman forward Jack Eichel found senior forward Evan Rodrigues wide open in the slot. Rodrigues fired the puck on goal, but Witt reached out with his glove and made a stop to keep the score tied. Witt’s amazing glove save was honored with the No. 2 spot on ESPN’s top 10 plays of Monday night.
BU came out flying in the second period. Sophomore forward Robbie Baillargeon scored early to put BU up 2-1. Nine minutes later, BU junior defenseman captain Matt Grzelcyk unleashed a slapshot from the high slot that got by Witt and found the top corner, extending the lead to 3-1.
The Huskies struggled to mount a comeback until halfway through the third period. Junior forward Kevin Roy went coast-to-coast before firing a shot past O’Connor to cut BU’s lead to 3-2. Under two minutes later, junior defenseman Dustin Darou capitalized on a scramble in front of O’Connor and banged home a rebound to tie the game at 3-3. Darou scored the winning goal against Boston College in round one of the Beanpot and continued his clutch goal scoring with the equalizer in the finals.
“I thought we showed a lot of character in the third period coming back to tie that game,” senior defenseman Dax Lauwers said. “It was unfortunate the way that it ended.”
Sophomore defenseman Matt Benning was sent to the penalty box nine seconds into overtime for a controversial hooking call. Under a minute later, Grzelcyk fired home his second goal of the game to clinch the Beanpot for BU.
Head Coach Jim Madigan was visibly upset by the way the game ended.
“We can’t criticize officials,” Madigan said. “The referee made a call; we didn’t agree with it. BU won the game on the power play.”
It was the final Beanpot game for NU seniors Lauwers, forward Adam Reid and redshirt forward Torin Snydeman.
“It’s a tough loss, but we have a game Friday night that we have to get ready for,” Snydeman said. “We’re on to Friday.”
NU will end the regular season with two more games against BU on Friday and Saturday at Matthews Arena before the first round of the Hockey East playoffs.
Photo by Brian Bae
For more photos, click here.
