Boston College was the clear favorite entering this year’s Beanpot, so it should come as no surprise that the Eagles ended up winning city bragging rights for the fifth year in a row. It should also come as no surprise that the title didn’t come easy. It rarely does in this tournament.
A week after getting pushed to the limit by Boston University, the Eagles found themselves in another dog fight against Northeastern, a school desperate to end what is now a 26-year Beanpot drought.
The game had everything you could want in a title game. The teams played fast. They hit hard. The passing was crisp. And both goalies played outstanding. For 54 minutes, the teams matched each other chance for chance, each rush feeling like a potential game-breaker.
Yet the score remained deadlocked at 1-1 until Isaac MacLeod threw a seemingly harmless shot on net from the left point with 5:30 left in the game. The shot quickly turned deadly, though, as BC captain Patrick Brown — sitting on the ice after being knocked down in front — somehow got the blade of his stick on it and deflected the puck past Clay Witt to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Johnny Gaudreau added an empty-netter and Brown scored again in the final minute, giving the game a 4-1 final that in no way reflects just how close it was.
“We’re not thinking about the streak. It’s not about winning five in a row. It’s about winning one,” Brown said. “We’re trying to win that game. The key is just not to change your game. You’ve got to keep working hard. You’ve got to keep getting to the net. Really just keep a third guy high and play smart hockey. We got a good bounce there.”
The first period felt like college hockey at its best, but that was only because the rest of the game hadn’t happened yet. The teams went up and down the ice trading chances, and Northeastern’s Witt (37 saves) and BC’s Thatcher Demko (29 stops) each made several great saves. BC (22-4-3) got on the board at the 8:40 mark on a 180-degree turn of momentum. Northeastern (16-10-3) had a goal waved off two minutes earlier because the net came off its moorings before the puck crossed the line, but the Huskies did come out of the ordeal with a power play. They failed to score, though, and 19 seconds after the power play expired, Gaudreau fed Kevin Hayes in the slot for the senior’s 21st goal of the season.
The Huskies had another power play a couple minutes after that. They mounted better challenges, but Demko stood tall, most notably squeezing a shot from the always-dangerous Kevin Roy between his left arm and his body. At the other end of the ice, Witt denied Gaudreau on a 2-on-1 with six minutes left in the frame and then stoned Hayes on a clean breakaway in the period’s waning seconds.
There was no way the intensity of the first period could’ve continued much longer, but somehow it did. If anything, the second period even took it up a notch. Northeastern’s Mike Szmatula flipped a rebound toward a yawning net, but Demko dove across and covered the puck before any Husky could knock it in. Roy had another great chance, but freshman defenseman Scott Savage got his stick on it at the last second and deflected the puck into the netting. Classmate Chris Calnan made a diving block on a Northeastern 3-on-2.
While Northeastern came close to tying the game, BC threatened to take a two-goal lead. Brown beat a defenseman down the right wing, but Witt kicked his shot away. Gaudreau led another 2-on-1, but Witt once again turned him away. When Austin Cangelosi tracked down the rebound, Husky captain Josh Manson went to his knees and made a save of his own. Then there was the point shot from Michael Matheson that popped into the air, only to be swatted away by a goalie-turned-hitter.
Finally, with 1:24 left in the second, Northeastern tied the game. Roy collected the puck off a turnover and fired low. Demko made that save, but John Stevens was there to flip the rebound into the cage, sending Northeastern’s eight sections of students into a state of delirium.
When the third period rolled around, it only took 49 seconds to get another great chance. Torin Snydeman got behind the D and put a shot on Demko from in close, but Demko trapped the puck against his pad and held on. Witt made several nice saves at the other end before BC finally got the winning tally past him.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan. “Our guys really worked hard, battled hard. We come in here facing a team that’s number one in the country and four-time defending Beanpot champion who’s playing really well. … I think we gave everything we could.”
With the win, BC became the second school in Beanpot history to win five straight titles. The Eagles will have a chance next year to match BU’s tournament record of six.