In Boston’s collegiate hockey scene, it’s all about bragging rights. And next week, the Boston University women’s ice hockey team will be playing for its first shot at those rights since 1982.
In just their second year at the NCAA Division I level, the Terriers are one win away from tasting Beanpot glory as a varsity team for the first time in program history, and they get to do it against the same foe as their men’s counterpart — Boston College.
However, a title this year wouldn’t be the Beanpot’s first trip down to Babcock Street in a women’s uniform. BU’s club women’s ice hockey team participated in the tournament for years before becoming a varsity team. Against three other NCAA teams, the Terriers didn’t usually have much of a chance. But in 1981, the stars aligned as BU took home the ‘Pot for the first and only time.
The 1981 squad and the 2007 Terriers already have something in common: With the Terriers 4-2 victory last night, both squads defeated Northeastern University en route to the championship game. The 1981 team dealt the Huskies a 4-0 loss before blanking Boston College by the same score in the title bout.
With fierce competition in this year’s Beanpot – both Harvard University and BC are ranked No. 6 and No. 10, respectively – the Terriers slide into the underdog role once again. Fortunately, it’s a role they know well.
“It’s real exciting for all the kids to have a chance to get involved, and to have the excitement of a final game is going to be pretty neat,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “Anything can happen in one game . . . sure, we’ll be the underdog, but we’ve been down that road before.”
In the 2006 Beanpot Tournament, the Terriers were the heavy underdog as a first-year team with a sub-.500 record. And yet, they took then-No. 8 Harvard Crimson into overtime before losing, 2-1. They then went on to notch the varsity program’s first Beanpot victory the following week against Northeastern in the consolation game.
Only two days removed from a 4-4 overtime tie with the Huskies, last night’s game was oddly familiar to the Terriers. After being down early, BU mustered up another third period comeback to knock Northeastern out of Beanpot contention.
“[It was] kind of eerie that way how the game went the same way,” Durocher said. “People always talk about what that’s going to mean to this game, and I always think that the next game is going to be its own self. But this was very similar in that they got the lead, we kept kind of battling back.”
And much like Saturday, the Terrier comeback put a scare into the Huskies that ultimately led to their demise.
“I think the turning point was probably that we got out of the second period, 2-1, and that might have set us up mentally for playing off of Saturday,” Durocher said. “It probably, in reverse order, hurt them because they’re worried about that comeback, and we came back, not in as grand a fashion, but still in a nice way.”
In order to beat the Eagles for a second time this season, the Terriers will need to play like the team that has shown up in the third period over the past two games.
“Our goal should be to be aggressive but play smart because we’re going to have [to play] a pretty talented team,” Durocher said. “We have some form of extra motivation playing . . . so as I said, we’ll be underdogs, so I think everybody will be excited and ready to play.”
As far as living up to their male counterparts on Commonwealth Avenue, the Terriers can only hope that next Tuesday will be the start of the same Beanpot success the men’s team has enjoyed.
“We always talk about trying to avoid the consolation game, and the men’s team has a record that’s absurd right now with 13 or 14 straight years getting to the final and winning half the tournaments,” Durocher said.
“We’d be happy to have half that record and keep going, but it’ll be a challenge as we grow to try to have a good record,” he added. “Northeastern’s a proud team and the other two programs are certainly top notch programs, so it’s not going to be easy. We’ll try to relish this year’s opportunity and see if we can’t pull a little magic out next Tuesday.”