‘We’ve got the Beanpot’

In Jack Parker’s 36th season as head coach of the Boston University men’s ice hockey team, the No. 1 Terriers won the 57th Beanpot Tournament last night, knocking off No. 3 Northeastern University, 5-2.

The 29th Beanpot title in program history, this year’s championship was the third for BU’s Class of 2009 and Parker’s 21st as coach of the Terriers.

‘It was a great college hockey game by two very good college hockey teams,’ Parker said. ‘[These are two teams] that will be battling each other in two weeks, battling each other at the end of the season in Hockey East and also battling each other in the NCAA Tournament as well.’

One week ago, the Terriers (22-5-1) slipped past Harvard University despite a stretch of shaky, unfocused and nervous play from their freshman class.

Anchored by freshman goalie Kieran Millan, who boasts the nation’s top winning percentage (.900) with an 18-1-1 record in net this year, the Terriers reached the final on the backs of their upperclassmen.

‘I always worry about freshmen in their first game of the Beanpot, and I was correct in my worries,’ Parker said. ‘The other night they all looked jittery, but that’s all out the window now. They are playing championship hockey. But once again, it’s the [senior class that is] getting this thing done for us.’

Last night, in front of a sellout crowd at TD Banknorth Garden, Parker’s upperclassmen and underclassmen strung together a symphony of strong, rhythmic hockey to outlast Northeastern (19-7-2).

Five Terriers lit the Garden lamp, including freshman defenseman David Warsofsky, as the Terriers threw 34 shots at Huskies junior goalie Brad Thiessen.

While Thiessen’s performance throughout the Beanpot was good enough to earn him the Eberly Award ‘-‘- given to the goalie with the highest save percentage over the course of the tournament ‘-‘- for the second year in a row, his effort was not enough to slow down BU’s fast-paced, aggressive attack.

Forced to go on the penalty kill after an interference call on senior forward Chris Higgins, the Terriers got their first of three shorthanded goals in the second period.

‘The game was won on three shorthanded goals,’ Parker said, seemingly astonished to be saying so. ‘I’ve never seen that in my life in the Beanpot. We had three shorthanded goals, and that’s the difference in the game.’

Following a wrist shot by senior forward Brandon Yip that sailed off the back wall toward the Garden rafters, sophomore forward and tournament MVP Nick Bonino corralled the bouncing puck in front of Thiessen’s crease. Bonino slapped at the puck, sending it tumbling into the top left corner of the net.

‘That goal, the shorthanded goal, was a shocker,’ NU coach Greg Cronin said. ‘It was the fact that Yip missed a breakaway, you think you dodged a little bad luck there, then they get the rebound off the glass. That was a bad omen.’

Northeastern’s fortunes turned sour early in the third with BU on the defensive.’

After junior forward Zach Cohen and sophomore defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk paraded to the box for tripping and cross-checking, respectively, the Terriers killed off Northeastern’s two-man advantage with relative ease.

Making five saves during the man-down stretch, Millan, just a week removed from limping to the final horn against Harvard, stood tall behind BU’s top penalty-killing trio.

‘Their goalie was tremendous in the third period,’ Cronin said of Millan. ‘That 5-on-3 sequence, somehow he made a ton of saves. To me, that was the turning point [in the game].’

The Huskies slipped pass after pass around Millan’s crease, but the attack generated little in the way of open shooting lanes or grade-A chances.

Coming off the PK, the Terriers took control of the game by cycling the puck in Thiessen’s end for much of the third.

BU, however, opened the door for the Huskies at the seven-minute mark.

With sophomore forward Joe Pereira stuck in the box after an undisciplined slash, the Terriers seemed to have backed themselves in a corner facing Northeastern’s power-play unit for the eighth time on the night.

Pereira’s penalty, however, might turn out to be the best two-minute minor he ever takes.

Allowing Northeastern to work the puck back up to the point, Yip challenged Huskies defenseman Mike Hewkin, blocking the pointman’s shot.

Yip’s effort led to an odd-man rush for BU, as Warsofsky, skating alongside defensive partner junior Eric Gryba, gained a step on the NU defender through the attacking zone and wristed a shot past Thiessen’s glove.

Just 30 seconds later, Higgins matched Yip’s defensive challenge, freeing up Shattenkirk and sophomore forward Colin Wilson for another 2-on-1 bid.

Shattenkirk drew Theissen across the crease before sliding the puck to Wilson, who buried a snap shot just below the crossbar.’

‘With seven minutes to go in a terrific college hockey game, we got a power play and a quality possession,’ Cronin said. ‘[For BU to] come down and get a shorty and then get [another one] right away was a shock. Our bench was in shock. The momentum seemed to be turning our way.’

In just half a minute, BU, despite being a man down for both tallies, took the game into its control for the remaining five minutes of play.

‘I don’t care what level of hockey, if you give up three shorthanded goals you are not going to win. That was the difference in the game,’ Cronin said.

Monday’s game between the Terriers and Huskies lived up to its billing as a clash between Hockey East’s top two teams. But, as Cronin said after the game, at the end of the night, it was just another game.

‘It’s a game. It’s over. It’s done. I have no afterglow,’ Cronin said.

Although the win did nothing to inch BU closer to Northeastern in the standings, it does give the Terriers a thrust forward heading into the home stretch of the season.

‘I think it definitely helps out with our momentum, moving towards a national championship and a Hockey East championship,’ Wilson said. ‘We’re getting a little more confidence under our belts.’

For the Terriers, Monday’s win was much more than just another game. It was a statement game.