BU’s Slow Start, Lack of Shots Leads to Beanpot Loss
BOSTON, Mass. – The second Beanpot Monday kicked off with threats of snow, but students still flocked their way to TD Garden to watch No. 4 Boston University take on No, 3 Harvard in the championship game. BU needed a big win after losing in Lowell on Friday night, while the Ivy Leaguers came off a massive win over Union College, leading to the flip in poll rankings between the Terriers and Crimson. From the get-go, the play was dominated by Harvard, and it showed throughout the game. In the end, the Terriers couldn’t grab their 31st Beanpot title, losing 6-3.
It started on a 5-on-3 for Harvard late in the first, when Nathan Krusko jammed away at BU netminder Jake Oettinger, collected the puck after a Sean Malone one-timer, and found twine. With a 1-0 Harvard lead after two, the Terriers seemingly sprang into action. On a power play of their own, the Terriers made it a new game. Brandon Hickey’s shot-pass to Bobo Carpenter in the slot deflected onto Harvard goaltender Merrick Madsen. Kieffer Bellows was there to corral the rebound, evening the score at 1. Just under three minutes later, Clayton Keller tipped John MacLeod’s shot home, putting BU up 2-1.
“I thought the first eight minutes of the second period were the best eight minutes we played all night,” Coach David Quinn said.
That would be it for positive moments in the second period for the Terriers. Luke Esposito tipped Clay Anderson’s shot through Oettinger at the midway point of the frame to re-tie the score. Then, late in the period, Philip Zielonka created chaos in front of Oettinger, while a pinching John Marino found Krusko, backhanding it into a virtually empty net. The goal went to review, but stood.
It went very downhill from there, as a hooking call on Dante Fabbro was called on the goal, while Charlie McAvoy went to the sin bin for tripping with only 22 seconds left in the second. Needing to kill a long 5-on-3, Alexander Kerfoot kept jamming away at Oettinger’s left pad to squeeze the puck over the goal line. Ryan Donato’s induvial effort on Harvard’s fifth goal almost put the game away. Clayton Keller’s spin-and-score, his second goal of the game, kept the Terriers in the match until late, when Adam Fox nailed a falling, 200-foot lob shot on an empty net, sealing a Crimson 6-3 victory.
“This is a game of want and desire, and you’ve got to do it for 60 minutes. You can’t, all of a sudden, elevate your want and desire when you have the puck. All five guys have to have a want and desire when they don’t have it,” Quinn said. “You have a responsibility every second you’re on the ice, and right now, we’re having a hard time grasping that.”
It’s the first Harvard Beanpot win since 1993, while the Terriers now find themselves on a two-game losing streak.
BU now prepares for a home-and-home series against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats. The first game of the series is at Agganis Arena, with puck drop slated for 6p.m. on Friday night.