After Saturday night's game, I kept thinking about something a friend said to me in the abyss of last year's national championship game. You know, the one where Boston College had a lead on Michigan State into the third period, only to lose in the final 20 seconds? The one that was BC's second straight heartbreaking title-game loss, the kind of loss that can completely drain a person of the will to do anything.
So it was after that game that a friend said to me, "I just want to be here to see BC win a national championship."
The Eagles have kind of come close in some other sports. The men's basketball team had the best team in school history just two years ago. The New York Times picked BC to win it all when the brackets came out. BC survived a scare from Pacific in the first round and advanced to the Sweet 16. But BC pulled a Memphis and went 8-17 on free throws, losing by one in overtime when Sean "Block Party" Williams goaltended a shot in the final seconds.
The football team was just a few games away from a berth in the national championship game last fall when Jeff Jagodzinski's surprising group was 8-0 and ranked second in the nation after a miracle win at Virginia Tech in October, but the Eagles flopped in the rain at home against Florida State. BC lost the next week to Maryland, and then again in a rematch with Virginia Tech in the ACC championship game. Despite not winning a championship, BC went to Disney World anyway for the Champs Sports Bowl.
Lost in the shuffle of the football team's success was the amazing run of the men's soccer team. Lest you forget, the soccer Eagles were the ACC regular-season and tournament champions (BC's first ACC championship in any sport). They handed Wake Forest, the eventual national champion, its only two losses of the season. They went into the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. But state rival Massachusetts ended the dream season in BC's tournament opener, a 2-1 loss at Newton Field.
This brings us back to hockey. This BC team of Gerbe and Ferriero and Brennan, they know all about getting to the final on Saturday. And they know exactly what it feels like to walk off the ice for the last time watching the other guys hoist the trophy, knowing you won't get a chance to redeem yourself for 365 days.
BC was back there again two nights ago, this time against Holy War rival Notre Dame. The Eagles were the favorites and played like it in the second period, scoring three goals in a row with Nathan Gerbe scoring the first two and assisting on the third. It looked like easy sailing to trophy time.
But Notre Dame put one up at the end of the second, and then you have to wonder what was going through the Eagles' heads when the Irish's Kyle Lawson knocked in a goal five minutes into the third period that cut BC's lead to 3-2. After close decisions at the final bell the last two years, this would have been the ultimate indignity - to blow a three-goal lead to Notre Dame.
The play went to review and, much to the dismay of the ESPN booth, the goal was rightly called back. Ben Smith (how good is this guy going to be?) put a nail in the coffin soon after with his 25th goal. Game, set, match.
And so Superfans, you now know what it feels like to say "We're national champions!" Go enjoy it.
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