Unlike last year, no overtime was needed this time.
The No. 9 Boston University men’s hockey team scored twice in the first period and once in the third, skating to a 3-1 victory over Northeastern University in the semifinal round of the Beanpot Tournament.
With the victory, BU (15-7-4, 8-4-3 Hockey East) has claimed a spot in the championship game against No. 4 Boston College next Monday night. For the Huskies (9-13-4, 4-8-3 Hockey East), it will be the 28th consecutive year they will not win the tournament title.
Both teams played conservatively for the first few minutes of the game, but about halfway through the first, the Terriers found their legs.
Junior forward Robbie Baillargeon got the Terriers started at the 13:14 mark of the period. Freshman center Bobo Carpenter started the play with two chances, the latter of which bounced in the air toward the net. Baillargeon, standing on the side of the cage, batted the puck out of midair past Northeastern goaltender Ryan Ruck for the first goal.
It was Baillargeon’s third career Beanpot goal and fifth point in tournament play, tied for the most of any current Terrier.
Just over three minutes later, freshman defenseman Charlie McAvoy doubled the lead. The play started as senior assistant captain Danny O’Regan skated into the slot and fed McAvoy on a drop pass. The freshman sniped the top left corner, just out of the reach of Ruck’s blocker.
Neither team would score in the middle frame, though each would get their chances. The Terriers, in the midst of a 1-for-18 stretch on the power play, failed two convert on two chances with an extra man.
On the other side, the Huskies recorded eight shots in the frame, but senior goaltender Sean Maguire stood tall with eight saves. Northeastern did itself no favors with a few missed chances on odd-man rushes, including a wide chance from former Terrier forward Sam Kurker.
BU appeared to have extended its lead late in the third, when O’Regan was awarded a rebound goal. However, upon further review, the officials determined the puck did not fully cross the goal line.
The Huskies, with the net pulled, cut the BU lead in half with 3:12 left in the third. Center John Stevens, standing in front of the crease, backhanded in a rebound by Maguire.
Northeastern pushed, but with Ruck on the bench again, junior defenseman Doyle Somerby sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 40.3 seconds remaining in the game.
This story will be updated soon
Andrew is one of the men's hockey beat writers for The Daily Free Press. He was Sports Editor during the Spring 2014 semester and has also interned with NESN, WEEI.com and SportsNet New York. Follow him on Twitter at @squidthoughts for sports-related tweets and random quotes from "The Office," or you can contact him via email at arbattif@bu.edu.
