Men's Hockey Beanpot vs. #9 Boston College (2/4/08)
by Sopan Deb
Entering overtime after a controversial go-ahead goal for Boston College was called back in the third period it seemed destiny was on the Terriers side, with déjà vu looming. Unfortunately for Boston University, Eagles junior forward Nathan Gerbe had other ideas. He scored the game winning goal at 7:15 into overtime, to snap BU’s streak of three consecutive Beanpot championships. The Terriers will now play in the consolation game of the tournament for the first time since 1994.
“I’m still kind of bummed out about our Pats,” BC head coach Jerry York said. “This kind of takes the sting out of it.”
In a tightly contested game, BU got scoring from junior forward John McCarthy, freshman forward Nick Bonino and senior forward Pete MacArthur. Sophomore goalie Brett Bennett made a career high 30 saves.
“We’ve had an unbelievable run,” BU head coach Jack Parker said, “It’s not the first time we’ve gone a long time without playing in the consolation game.”
McCarthy gave BU an early lead 4:40 in the first when he rebounded senior forward Brian McGuirk’s slapshot from the right circle. The original shot was stopped by BC freshman goalie John Muse, but McCarthy stayed with the puck and shoved it through Muse’s legs.
BC would score two goals in the span of ten seconds five minutes later. After sophomore defenseman Eric Gryba was whistled for a contact to the head penalty and BC freshman defenseman Nick Petrecki was called for charging, sophomore Brian Strait was whistled for a hitting from behind penalty 11 seconds later, giving BC a four-on-three advantage. On the ensuing power-play, BC showed why they have one of the best power-play attacks in the league. Junior defenseman Anthony Aiello tied the game on a slapshot three feet in front of the straightaway blue-line for his third goal of the year.
Not done yet, at even strength, BC scored their second goal off the ensuing faceoff. Junior forward Benn Ferriero poured in his tenth goal of the season on a cross from sophomore forward Ben Smith from Bennett’s right.
The Terriers dominated the second period as they controlled the flow of the game and established early puck control.
BU tied the game at two at 3:57 in the second period when Bonino scored a power-play goal. Freshman defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk fought for the puck along the left-side boards and forced it out to an open Bonino and chipped it over a sliding BC defenseman.
The Terriers used the power-play to go ahead at 8:44 in the second when MacArthur scored his 11th goal of the season. Freshman defenseman Colby Cohen sent a pass to MacArthur at the right point and his slapshot went in to the top right shelf.
Unfortunately, that would be the last time BU would score. Gerbe, as he so often has in his career, took over the game, and took it to the Terriers.
He tied the game a minute in to the third on the power play when he rebounded a slap shot from Ferriero.
BC appeared to take the lead with 14:41 left in the third. Junior forward Kyle Kucharski took a shot from the right side. Freshman forward Brian Gibbons and senior BU defenseman Dan McGoff were in the crease to knock the puck loose and junior forward Andrew Orpik knocked it in. BC contended that McGoff knocked Gibbons in to the crease making the goal legal but the officials ruled that Gibbons was already in the crease before he was hit by McGoff.
“I thought it was going to be a goal,” Bennett said. “We still had a really good shot of winning the game and it really helped that it was a no goal.”
“The coaching staff did a great job keeping us composed,” Gerbe said. “The rest of the period was an exciting back-forth affair with both teams getting numerous close-calls.” The score was tied at three entering overtime when Gerbe struck again.
Gerbe streaked up the right side on a nice cross from Gibbons and put the puck past Bennett, who proceeded to throw his stick in frustration.
“Obviously, it’s no fun to lose, but it’s a good experience,” Bennett said. “It makes me feel kind of bad that I let my team down giving that one up. It hurts.”
“I thought we were on top of our game,” Parker said. “[I’m] disappointed that we didn’t get the win tonight but I’m pleased with the team’s effort. We played hard.”
The Terriers next take on UMass Lowell, Friday night at Tsongas Arena. The Terriers will try to defeat a ranked opponent for the first time all year. That game can be heard on WTBU, with Terriers Tonight kicking things off at 6:40 pm.
Terriers Notes:
- Freshman defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk assisted on all three BU goals, which were scored by McCarthy, Bonino, and MacArthur.
Entering overtime after a controversial go-ahead goal for Boston College was called back in the third period it seemed destiny was on the Terriers side, with déjà vu looming. Unfortunately for Boston University, Eagles junior forward Nathan Gerbe had other ideas. He scored the game winning goal at 7:15 into overtime, to snap BU’s streak of three consecutive Beanpot championships. The Terriers will now play in the consolation game of the tournament for the first time since 1994.
“I’m still kind of bummed out about our Pats,” BC head coach Jerry York said. “This kind of takes the sting out of it.”
In a tightly contested game, BU got scoring from junior forward John McCarthy, freshman forward Nick Bonino and senior forward Pete MacArthur. Sophomore goalie Brett Bennett made a career high 30 saves.
“We’ve had an unbelievable run,” BU head coach Jack Parker said, “It’s not the first time we’ve gone a long time without playing in the consolation game.”
McCarthy gave BU an early lead 4:40 in the first when he rebounded senior forward Brian McGuirk’s slapshot from the right circle. The original shot was stopped by BC freshman goalie John Muse, but McCarthy stayed with the puck and shoved it through Muse’s legs.
BC would score two goals in the span of ten seconds five minutes later. After sophomore defenseman Eric Gryba was whistled for a contact to the head penalty and BC freshman defenseman Nick Petrecki was called for charging, sophomore Brian Strait was whistled for a hitting from behind penalty 11 seconds later, giving BC a four-on-three advantage. On the ensuing power-play, BC showed why they have one of the best power-play attacks in the league. Junior defenseman Anthony Aiello tied the game on a slapshot three feet in front of the straightaway blue-line for his third goal of the year.
Not done yet, at even strength, BC scored their second goal off the ensuing faceoff. Junior forward Benn Ferriero poured in his tenth goal of the season on a cross from sophomore forward Ben Smith from Bennett’s right.
The Terriers dominated the second period as they controlled the flow of the game and established early puck control.
BU tied the game at two at 3:57 in the second period when Bonino scored a power-play goal. Freshman defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk fought for the puck along the left-side boards and forced it out to an open Bonino and chipped it over a sliding BC defenseman.
The Terriers used the power-play to go ahead at 8:44 in the second when MacArthur scored his 11th goal of the season. Freshman defenseman Colby Cohen sent a pass to MacArthur at the right point and his slapshot went in to the top right shelf.
Unfortunately, that would be the last time BU would score. Gerbe, as he so often has in his career, took over the game, and took it to the Terriers.
He tied the game a minute in to the third on the power play when he rebounded a slap shot from Ferriero.
BC appeared to take the lead with 14:41 left in the third. Junior forward Kyle Kucharski took a shot from the right side. Freshman forward Brian Gibbons and senior BU defenseman Dan McGoff were in the crease to knock the puck loose and junior forward Andrew Orpik knocked it in. BC contended that McGoff knocked Gibbons in to the crease making the goal legal but the officials ruled that Gibbons was already in the crease before he was hit by McGoff.
“I thought it was going to be a goal,” Bennett said. “We still had a really good shot of winning the game and it really helped that it was a no goal.”
“The coaching staff did a great job keeping us composed,” Gerbe said. “The rest of the period was an exciting back-forth affair with both teams getting numerous close-calls.” The score was tied at three entering overtime when Gerbe struck again.
Gerbe streaked up the right side on a nice cross from Gibbons and put the puck past Bennett, who proceeded to throw his stick in frustration.
“Obviously, it’s no fun to lose, but it’s a good experience,” Bennett said. “It makes me feel kind of bad that I let my team down giving that one up. It hurts.”
“I thought we were on top of our game,” Parker said. “[I’m] disappointed that we didn’t get the win tonight but I’m pleased with the team’s effort. We played hard.”
The Terriers next take on UMass Lowell, Friday night at Tsongas Arena. The Terriers will try to defeat a ranked opponent for the first time all year. That game can be heard on WTBU, with Terriers Tonight kicking things off at 6:40 pm.
Terriers Notes:
- Freshman defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk assisted on all three BU goals, which were scored by McCarthy, Bonino, and MacArthur.
posted by Chris Aliano at
8:20 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home