Northeastern got a few drops of what its first Beanpot championship in 23 years might have tasted like during the tournament finale against No. 1 Boston College Monday night.
But the top-ranked Eagles seemed to immediately counter each goal the Huskies scored, as BC outlasted Northeastern in a wild affair at TD Garden, 7-6, in overtime.
Sophomore Jonathan Lee scored 51 points in the last three basketball games, including a career-high 25 points against in the Huskies 91-80 win over Virginia Commonwealth University Feb. 2. His performance has earned him Huntington News Player of the Week honors.
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.
For the second time in three years, the men’s hockey team is playing in the Beanpot championship game. Ask anyone who follows the team how they’re feeling and they will tell you they’re “cautiously optimistic.” It’s hard for fans to get too excited about the game. After all, we haven’t won the tournament since before most of the current undergrads were born.
Facing a Tigers squad that was 4-19 overall and 0-13 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), Northeastern got all it could handle from the gritty Towson team. Despite trailing by six points at half time, the Huskies regrouped and squeaked by with an 82-78 decision in front of 1,201 fans at Matthews Arena
In the first round of the Beanpot, Sophomore forward and point leader Rachel Llanes buried a power play goal in the women’s hockey team’s 4-3 overtime loss against No. 10 Harvard. But Llanes wasn’t the only one on the scorecard: Seven other skaters notched points in the thrilling rematch of last year’s title game.
The men’s team beat Boston University, who scored a total of 158 points, by just one point. Harvard came in third with 131 points and Boston College took fourth place with 60 points. The women’s team’s 95 points put them in fourth place, behind Harvard (191 points), BU (116 points) and BC (104 points).
The swimming & diving team wrapped up its regular season by defeating Rhode Island 230-65 but fell to Dartmouth 176-119 in a tri-team meet last weekend.
The women’s basketball team’s troubles continued as it shot just 32.8 percent from the floor, compared to Virginia Commonwealth University’s 53.3 percent. The apathetic offensive efforts gave way to a 82-55 shellacking by the Rams.
The Beanpot has been a sour subject for Northeastern fans, students, and alumni for the past 23 years. 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.
