The Boston University men’s hockey team (16-10-3, 11-6-3 Hockey East) will compete in the biggest game of their season so far when they face Northeastern University (19-8-1, 10-6-1 HE) for the Beanpot title Monday night at TD Garden.
With a win, the Terriers would collect their first Beanpot trophy since 2015.
The Huskies have won the past three Beanpot tournaments, most recently in 2020 with a double-overtime victory over BU.
“A lot of guys have confidence, they have confidence in each other and we’ve got a winning feeling,” BU head coach Albie O’Connell said in Thursday’s postgame press conference. “Guys want to win, guys want to compete and play. It’s exciting to see as a coaching staff.”
The leadership on the Terriers’ roster has been outstanding in the second half of the season. Players like senior captain and forward Logan Cockerill, junior forward Matt Brown, junior forward Ethan Phillips and other upperclassmen have served as a strong example on and off the ice for the rest of the group.
The Terriers have scored four or more goals in their last six games with a power play that’s been red-hot and a group which is finally having fun in the offensive zone.
They’ve been backed up by sophomore goaltender Vinny Duplessis, who garnered 24 stops against the Friars and has been calm, confident and poised between the pipes in sophomore goaltender Drew Commesso’s absence. He’ll no doubt get the nod on Monday, and will be tasked with keeping the Huskies at bay in arguably the most important start of his collegiate career.
On the other side of Boston, Northeastern skated to a 4-2 win over the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Friday. Led by junior forward Aidan McDonough, who has 25 points this season, the Huskies have been a Hockey East threat all year.
But Northeastern hasn’t played as well as BU in the second half of the season. The Huskies are just now getting back to their top tier play after getting swept by UMass Amherst and losing to Arizona State and UMass Lowell a couple of weeks ago.
Freshman netminder T.J. Semptimphelter has stepped up for the Huskies as they also lost their starting goaltender, Devon Levi, to the Olympics. It seems Semptimphelter has gotten more comfortable in the crease after allowing eight goals in his first two starts since Levi’s departure.
Semptimphelter made 25 saves in his squad’s most recent victory and has earned a .938 save percentage and 2.09 goals against average.
But stats aside, the Beanpot brings an entirely different level of competition and desire to win from both sides. The result will simply come down to who wants it more.
O’Connell said his guys are ready for Monday night.
“We’re not gonna have to get them up for that game, we’ll probably have to calm them down,” he said.
For complete BU hockey coverage, check out the Boston Hockey Blog and follow along with @BOShockeyblog on Twitter and @boston.hockey.blog on Instagram for updates.
