Boston College erases those Beanpot demons, knocks off Boston University to capture 21st title

College Sports

In a hard-fought battle, the Eagles came out on top to secure their first Beanpot championship title since 2016.

For all that the Boston College men’s hockey team had accomplished the previous two seasons — consecutive Hockey East regular season crowns and NCAA tournament appearances, a Hockey East tournament title, and a trip to the NCAA championship game — a Beanpot championship had eluded the program, with losses to Boston University in each of the last two seasons.

But the Eagles can now check off that box after defeating BU, 6-2, in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,258 at TD Garden Monday night to capture their 21st Beanpot title, and first since 2016.

“Personally, it’s nice,” said Greg Brown, who downplayed the significance of getting his first title in his fourth season as BC coach. “You want to have success for the guys. You know, we didn’t play badly the last couple of years. We lost to a really good team. So that’s what’s most important, is you want to make sure that you’re showing up in these games and playing well.”

Special teams played a crucial role in the 300th meeting between the rivals. The Terriers were 1 for 5 on the power play, while BC scored three goals with the man advantage. Andre Gasseau and Will Vote each scored twice, while Louka Cloutier recorded 27 saves as BC (16-9-1) denied the Terriers (13-14-2) a title repeat.

Cloutier stopped 57 of 60 shots across the two games for a .950 save percentage to earn the Eberly Award, given to the goalie with the highest save percentage in the tournament. James Hagens was named tournament MVP after posting two goals and three assists in the two games.

The sophomore acknowledged the team’s fans, as well as former teammates who came to watch. With the NHL on break for the Olympics, Will Smith, Gabe Perreault, Ryan Leonard, and Jacob Fowler were all in attendance

“It was just exciting to be able to get this trophy, not only for us, but for the school, for all the fans that showed up today,” said Hagens. “It means a lot. We had a couple guys that played with us that were able to come back and be here tonight, so to be able to have their support is also a huge help.”

Holding a 3-1 lead entering the third period, BC expanded it when Gasseau potted his second of the night, putting in a rebound of Ryan Conmy’s shot at 5:36. The Eagles needed just four seconds of power-play time to convert after Ryder Ritchie was called for a cross check at 5:32.

BU pulled within two on Cole Eiserman’s one-timer, the Terriers’ only power-play goal of the night, at 14:51. The momentum would be short-lived, though, as BC again went up by three when Teddy Stiga found Dean Letourneau in front. The big forward’s backhander slipped past Mikhail Yegorov to push the Eagles’ lead back to three at 16:03. Vote added an empty-netter to account for the final.

With the victory, BC improved to 12th in the NPI, the system used to seed and select the 16-team field for the NCAA tournament. BU fell to 29th and will need to win the Hockey East tournament to reach the NCAAs.

“They were the better team, clearly,” said BU coach Jay Pandolfo. “It’s just disappointing that I can’t get this group to just play the same way shift after shift.”

BU drew first blood, scoring 2:15 in when Brandon Svoboda tucked one past Cloutier. Gavin McCarthy sent in the initial shot from the point that Cloutier stopped but was unable to control the rebound, allowing Svoboda to swoop in for the score.

The Terriers had a chance to expand that lead with a pair of power plays — when Hagens went off for high sticking at 5:17, and Jake Sondreal was whistled for hooking at 9:24 — but they came up empty each time. BU came into the game connecting on just 15.8 percent with the man advantage, ranked 49th out of 63 teams nationally.

BC got its first power play at 14:24 when Cole Hutson went off for holding. The Terriers entered the night have killed off nine of their last 10 penalties, but it didn’t take long for the Eagles to capitalize. Conmy came barreling into the BU zone before dishing the puck in front, where Gasseau was able to knock it past Yegorov at 15:02 for the equalizer.

The score remained tied through the end of the period, although BU opened the second with 49 seconds left on a power play after Eagles defenseman Aram Minnetian was called for roughing in a scrum with Eiserman behind the BC net. But once again BU came up empty, and after the Terriers iced the puck twice in the opening 62 seconds, Pandolfo was forced to use his timeout to get fresh bodies on the ice.

Sacha Boisvert had a great bid just before the 5-minute mark that almost put BU back on top when he carried the puck across the goal front before managing to get a shot off from the side, but Cloutier was able to stop it with his skate.

BC had a terrific chance to grab the lead when Hagens sprung Brady Berard on a breakaway, but Yegorov gloved the senior captain’s backhander at 10:42.

The Eagles finally seized the lead at 15:04, when Vote re-directed Lukas Gustafsson’s shot from the point. BC’s Letourneau outraced a BU defender to the puck, and sent it over to Stiga, who fired it across to Gustaffson. After his initial shot was blocked, Gustafsson fired off another that Vote tipped home.

The Eagles expanded their lead 1:58 later with a power-play goal after Ritchie was sent off for tripping. This time it only took 13 seconds for BC to strike, with Gustafsson’s point blast finding the back of the net, with the 6-foot-7-inch Letourneau screening Yegorov (32 saves) on the play.

It sent the Eagles to the third period with a 3-1 lead, having outshot the Terriers, 16-8, in the second for a 23-17 advantage through 40 minutes.

Hall of Fame coaches Jack Parker and Jerry York were on hand for a ceremonial puck drop to commemorate the 300th meeting between the two schools.

Crimson take consolation prize

Harvard (13-10-1) took the consolation game with a 4-1 win over Northeastern (12-14-1).

The Crimson took the lead when Matthew Morden beat Northeastern goalie Lawton Zacher 12:08 into the contest, off a nice feed from Philip Tresca. Northeastern got the equalizer 13:35 into the second, capitalizing off a Harvard turnover when Morden and Ryan Healey collided going for the puck. Giacomo Martino was able to retrieve it behind the Crimson net and sent a pass out front to Joe Connor, who whistled it past Ben Charette for the score.

The game did not stay tied for long, as Harvard freshman Chase Stefanek was able to beat Zacher glove side with a wrister at 17:06. The Crimson scored twice more in the third — first when Concord native Richard Gallant re-directed a shot from Milton’s Sean Keohane 5:22 in, then putting the game away on Tresca’s empty netter at 18:14.

Beanpot Hall adds Ted Drury

Former Harvard All-American Ted Drury was inducted into the men’s Beanpot Hall of Fame after the first period of the championship game. Drury scored the game-winning goal in the 1993 Beanpot seven minutes into the third period to lift Harvard to an eventual 4-2 victory over BU to secure the Crimson’s ninth Beanpot title.

He finished the tournament with six points in two games to take home MVP honors. Serving as team captain for the 1992-93 season, Drury led the Crimson to the ECAC regular-season title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament on his way to being named the ECAC Player of the Year and a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. He joins his brother Chris, who was inducted in 2009 from BU.