Terriers and Huskies battle for Beanpot title

For both No. 3 Northeastern University and No. 1 Boston University, the tweener game is in the books and both clubs’ full attention is back on the Beanpot Tournament.

Heading into Monday’s finale, the Terriers and Huskies are running on full cylinders.

BU is 9-1 in its last 10 games, while NU ‘-‘- currently holding a two-point advantage over the Terriers for Hockey East’s top scoring spot ‘-‘- has won seven of its last 10.’

Led by senior center Joe Vitale, whose tally at the 17:16 mark of the third period against Merrimack College gave the Huskies a 4-3 win Friday, Northeastern has proven its worth in Hockey East with just four losses so far this season.

‘They’re a very good team that’s played everybody tough all year, so it won’t be that much of a story [if they win],’ BU coach Jack Parker said, negating Northeastern’s role as the underdog in Monday’s game. ‘Whoever wins it and whoever loses it, it remains to be seen how each team reacts to that the rest of the way.’

Working against the Huskies, however, is that one of those four losses came to the Terriers on Jan. 16.

BU shut out the Huskies, 3-0, behind an 18-save performance from freshman goalie Kieran Millan.

Millan, who boasts the nation’s best winning percentage (.895) with a 17-1-1 record, has shown signs of mortality in BU’s last two games, but has continued to make saves in the games’ key moments.

‘His numbers speak for themselves,’ senior co-captain John McCarthy said after Monday’s Beanpot opener. ‘He’s played well, and he played great for a freshman in his first Beanpot. He gave us a chance to win the game, and that’s what he has done all season long. It calms everyone down knowing he’s behind us.’

Throughout the week leading up to Friday night’s game against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Parker urged his team to keep its attention on the next game ‘-‘- a theme that has driven the Terriers to the top of the national polls.

‘I think this season, the whole season, we’ve done a good job of keeping our eyes forward,’ McCarthy said. ‘Everyone in the locker room understands that the most important game is the next game, and that attitude drives us.’

The Terriers came out in the first period of Friday’s game determined to put their first period lull against Harvard University in the first round of the Beanpot behind them.

‘Attitude is everything for us,’ McCarthy said last week. ‘We talked about coming out strong and changing our attitude. We need to get going from the start. The only technical thing we talked about was the 6-on-5. Harvard ended up scoring when they had their goalie pulled. It was after the buzzer, but it’s something we had to work on.’

Parker’s week-long efforts to get the Terriers jumping from the puck-drop paid off, as BU threw three pucks past UML junior goalie Carter Hutton in a span of two minutes in the first period.

Surrendering the lead through the second, the Terriers poured on two more tallies in the third to secure a win heading into Monday’s final.

‘Tonight, we had a tough second,’ McCarthy said following Friday’s 5-3 win. ‘But the biggest thing in our locker room is that no one was harping on it. We were all worried about the third period. Everyone knew we could outplay them, but it’s a matter of going out and proving it. We have the ability to do that this year.’

With the win, BU is now 12-1 in its last 13 games dating back to Dec. 6.

With BU No. 1 and NU No. 3, the offensive output of both teams has only been outdone by their respective goaltenders.

NU junior Brad Thiessen is 16-9-2 on the year, coming off a 45-save performance against Boston College in the opening round of the Beanpot.

‘They’re having a terrific year, we’re having a terrific year, and we’re both rated pretty highly in the polls,’ Parker said Friday. ‘It’ll be a well-played game between two teams that have played well to this point. There’s a championship on the line Monday night. Somebody’s going be the champion and somebody’s going to get the trophy.’

With the atmosphere at the Garden expected to rival the atmosphere of last year’s Bruins-Canadiens playoff series, how the freshman and sophomores on both squads react to the pressure will determine how well each team executes its game plan.

‘I think the atmosphere in the building is going to be crazy. It’s going to be equal parts BU and Northeastern, but that means it’ll be three-fourths Northeastern because of the BC and Harvard fans,’ Parker said. ‘Probably everybody except the bull gang and the BU fans will be rooting for Northeastern. It’ll be quite a show there Monday night, that’s for sure.’