BU Invitational no more

All around Boston, everyone knows this is Boston College’s season.

Just like in 2001, the Eagles – appropriately anointed No. 1 in the nation Monday – have the perfect team that is supposedly going on a perfect run through the Beanpot, the Hockey East Tournament and the Frozen Four, all fittingly at the FleetCenter. Coach Jerry York and perfect posterboy Ben Eaves will ride off into the sunset, with Patrick and J.D. and Tony and Matti just behind.

Sean Fields – with the help of a little Boston University Beanpot karma – had that perfect script in his glove hand most of Monday night. He crumpled it, skated over it and got to the part where he was supposed to light it on fire.

And then BC scored.

In overtime, they scored again.

And there it was – the Chestnut Hill dwellers, celebrating their first step to perfection on what is typically BU’s turf in BU’s cursed season, no doubt with an audible sigh of relief in stripping the two-time defending champs of Boston’s favorite trophy for just the second time in 10 years.

“A lot of disappointment,” Fields said, describing his emotions after the Eagles sealed the 2-1 win in overtime. “I mean, our whole team was confident that we could get this game … We put our hearts on the line, and to come up short, it just breaks your heart.”

In what will turn out to be one of the tournament’s classic finishes, the Terriers (8-12-6) were unable to hold onto the 1-0 lead they held for more than 50 minutes, finally succumbing to a vicious, relentless BC attack that had only been warded off with one of Fields’ greatest games.

After Kenny Roche shocked the heavily favored Eagles (21-3-4) with a perfectly placed top-corner wrister just 3:30 into the contest, BU coach Jack Parker’s team looked like it was trying to kill a 56:30 penalty, falling back into the defensive zone for almost the duration of the game.

“Last time we played them we outshot them,” Parker said (his team was outshot 52-13 Monday). “And the game just evolved into a game where we were protecting a lead. It was a weird game for us to be playing so conservative, but we got into that mode and we were having success with it, so we kept it up.”

The game featured great BC chance after great BC chance with not many BU chances intertwined – sure to take years off the life of any member of Terrier Nation tuning in.

Fields – the tournament MVP and Eberly Award winner (two years in a row for each, a Beanpot first) – was unconscious with 50 saves, consistently frustrating Eagle snipers with his quickness and huge glove. The karma kicked in, bailing him out with at least five different posts or crossbars. And the defenders were often there to help clear pucks away, icing the puck probably more than they would have liked.

But for a while, it looked like Fields and the Terriers were going to pull it off. And when J.D. Forrest’s slapshot that got past the senior goalie was disallowed because of a man in the crease, it really appeared that destiny was at play.

“I don’t think we ever let down and said, ‘Man, he’s just on tonight, maybe it’s his night,'” said BC forward Ryan Murphy, who ended up scoring the game-winner in overtime. “We just fought even harder each time.”

And when the clock dripped under four minutes, the anxious 17,565 in attendance might have even prematurely started eyeing the BC net to see when Matti Kaltiainen (12 saves) was going to take off.

“I didn’t even look at the clock after the 10-minute mark,” Parker said. “I don’t like to be a clock-watcher, you know. I just like to have somebody tell me the game is over.”

It didn’t end the way Parker wanted it to. Maintaining the pressure from wire to wire, BC finally broke through with 3:30 to go – exactly the same amount of time into the game that BU had broken the ice. Senior assistant captain Ty Hennes did the honors, finally whacking a loose puck in front of a chaotic crease past a helpless Fields.

From there, it was going to be difficult for BU to turn around the momentum that had been building for nearly three periods, and the Terriers could only stagger into overtime.

“We knew after we got that first one going into the overtime we were pretty confident,” Murphy said. “It wasn’t gonna be a pretty goal, just a grinding goal. Sean Fields was incredible tonight, but we were able to slip two by him just by hard work.”

It probably should have been over about 2:30 into overtime (or more realistically, long before that, due total control of the puck) when Ryan Shannon failed to bury a perfect pass on a 3-on-1 into an empty net. But what seemed inevitable struck about 3:30 later when David Van der Gulik turned the puck over in front of Fields, leaving Murphy to whirl around and whip the game winner past a startled Fields – glove side.

“We tried to stay away from his glove hand, but it turned out to be his glove hand that I shot the puck over,” Murphy said. “All I can remember was my teammates jumping off the bench and into a big pile. It happened so fast.”

Murphy’s goal came on the power play for BC after Tom Morrow had hooked Tony Voce nearly two minutes before. The normally scary Eagle man-advantage looked pretty much like the rest of BC’s attack Monday, as the Icedogs killed everything they had to up to that point and nearly got Morrow out of the box. But they fell short.

The Eagles deserved to win, no doubt. But it was painful for the boys in scarlet and white because they came so close to extending their dynasty in what could have been the biggest upset out of BU’s 25 Beanpots.

“Last year we had good season success with BU, and then we couldn’t beat them in the Beanpot,” York said. “So I think that’s a great psychological boost for us.”

Sean Fields did what he could, but this time, he could not do it all by himself. He accepted the MVP trophy – rare for a member of the losing team – with just a cringe on his face, and he hurried off the ice before the Eagles’ hoisted the trophy the Terriers really wanted.

You might have thought that it would be different in the Beanpot, and for almost the full 60 minutes, it even looked that way on the scoreboard. But in case you haven’t noticed, it hasn’t been the Icedogs’ year.

“Last year, just like tonight, I got some lucky bounces, a couple posts,” Fields said. “Not enough lucky bounces, I guess, tonight.”

Not enough lucky bounces this year, either. Even in the Beanpot.