Saturday night’s 7-4 victory by the Boston University men’s hockey team over the UMass-Lowell RiverHawks reminded me exactly why I love watching professional athletes excel. This wasn’t just any win. This was far more significant than simply being the first win of the year at Agganis Arena. It meant more than chalking up the second win of the season by a team that had struggled out of the gate.
This was a Terrier team that, losing 4-1 with 11:04 left in the second period, put a collective foot down and said, “Screw it. We are not losing this game.” Six unanswered goals later, I felt pity for a young River Hawk team. It picked the wrong night to try BU’s patience.
To me, there are two ways of not giving up with your back against the wall. There is the Manny Ramirez approach that he showed and was absurdly criticized for during the 2007 American League Champion Series against the Cleveland Indians. Down 3-1 in the series and facing the prospect of elimination at Jacobs Field, Manny said it would not be the end of the world if the Sox lost. He had no intention of changing his approach to the series because without that approach, the team would not have made it so far, anyway.
The second approach is what BU accomplished against Lowell. We’ve seen it in all the greatest athletes in history. Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and LeBron James are prime examples. This is when a player or a team, when losing, decides that the present approach isn’t going to work. They realize that it’s time to take their game to the next level. It is necessary to reach down into the deepest depths of their talents and go beyond maximizing it: They must transcend it. LeBron’s 48-point game against the Detroit Pistons in the 2007 playoffs? Bingo. Michael’s 63 against the Celtics in the 1986 quarterfinals? That was it.
To be clear, the turning point of the game was after the River Hawks scored their fourth goal of the game off a power play. BU coach Jack Parker quickly called a timeout to settle his team down. Up until this point, the Terriers looked sluggish and outmatched against a Lowell team that finished 8-21-7 last year. BU senior goalie Karson Gillespie was replaced by sophomore Brett Bennett with 16:39 remaining in the second period. If anything, instead of the timeout having a calming effect, the team came out with more focus and intensity. So much so that it was an overdose for Lowell.
After the timeout, BU quickened its offense in an attempt to wear out Lowell sophomore goalie Nevin Hamilton. They accomplished that much. The shots kept coming (73 total), and soon, so did the goals. The River Hawk defense now looked overmatched and could not keep its poise down the stretch.
It appears the Terriers have found their answer in net. Let’s be frank: Bennett did not have to do much in his 37 minutes of play. The defensemen did a fantastic job the entire game of protecting the net, not allowing easy angles or the same one-on-one opportunities that had made things exceedingly difficult for the goaltending at the start of the season. However, what Bennett did do was provide stability to the BU defense. Bennett came in and provided a much-needed band-aid by making 12 saves and only allowing one power-play goal.
Gillespie also deserves credit. After being pulled from the game, both Parker and Gillespie’s teammates raved about the leadership and constant encouragement he provided from the bench for the rest of the contest. That amazes me. Athletes that have the ability to put their own performances aside at the drop of a hat for the betterment of the team are rare. Gillespie didn’t mope. He didn’t sit at the end of the bench and mope about his rough game. He picked himself right up and provided intangible value that helped a young and inexperienced Bennett right the ship. Gillespie provided a life lesson: In times of trouble, look beyond yourself.
Of course, there was the offensive onslaught. How often does a hockey team score a touchdown’s worth in goals? This was where the “Screw it, we’re not losing” mentality was most apparent.
Sophomore forward Luke Popko kept attacking . . . and attacking. His first goal of the season to make the game 4-2 in the second period was by far the most important goal of the game. For one thing, the crowd increased its decibel level again.
One of the unnoticed aspects of watching a sport is how a crowd seems to know if a team has it in it for a comeback or not. I’m a Yankees fan. In Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, the Red Sox were winning, 5-3, with one out in the bottom of the 8th. I still knew the Yankees were going to win. Don’t ask me why — I have no idea. It was an intrinsic higher knowledge within me. There was electricity in the air that I could feel through the TV set. In the 2007 Division Series against the Cleveland Indians, the Yankees were down 6-4 in the 9th against one of the worst closers in the league, and I could feel the game being over. I already knew the series had ended two games before that when the Indians sent bugs to attack Joba Chamberlain.
Fans just know when their team has it in it. Agganis Arena knew that BU had it Saturday, and because of the support, the Terriers were able to swing the momentum their way, and it never shifted again.
The 7-4 victory over UML and the previous 5-2 win over Providence (also come-from-behind) is a sign of good things to come for this hockey team. This is a mentally tough team, and considering the influx of youth this year, that is impressive.
On another note, I guess I was wrong about BU not being able to outslug other teams.
Sopan Deb, a sophomore in the College of Communication, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].