 "Photo: Alex Trautwig / Heights Editor")
BOSTON — For the second time in three years, the Boston College men’s hockey team won the Beanpot tournament, this time taking down Boston University, 4-3. The championship victory was the 15th for BC since the four-team tournament began 58 years ago.
BU opened the scoring in a physical first period with six and a half minutes remaining on a Kevin Shattenkirk goal. BC’s Philip Samuelsson turned the puck over on an ill-advised pass through center ice, which Shattenkirk intercepted and lifted over goaltender John Muse’s shoulder.
The Eagles responded forcefully in the second period, rattling off three goals. Just a minute into the second frame, Steven Whitney’s shot ricocheted off the outstretched stick of Terrier defenseman Sean Escobedo and past goalie Kieran Millan. The power-play goal evened the score at one.
Another 11 minutes passed before Carl Sneep pushed BC ahead on a powerful slap shot. After Matt Lombardi attempted to stuff the puck past Millan, Matt Price slid the puck out of traffic back to Sneep, who fired a shot from beyond the top of the circle to take a 2-1 lead.
Chris Kreider showcased his blinding speed and quick stick handling with perhaps the prettiest goal of the year. After taking a feed from Jimmy Hayes, Kreider glided from BC’s blue line and matched up one-on-one against BU’s Max Nicastro. Kreider faked left and slid the puck through Nicastro’s legs, easily skated around the frozen defender, and faked out Millan with a backhand in the corner of the net. The goal was Kreider’s fifth in five games.
Up 3-1 four minutes into the third period, Barry Almeida notched his fourth goal of the year by outracing most of the Terrier defense down the ice and flipping the puck past Millan for a three-goal lead.
BU, however, would not hand over the Beanpot that easily. Following a nifty behind-the-back feed from Zach Cohen, David Warsofsky beat the two Eagle defensemen and sent a backhand shot past Muse to reduce the deficit.
With less than three minutes left in the game, BU head coach Jack Parker elected to pull Millan for an extra skater, giving the Terriers a six-on-four advantage due to a Tommy Cross penalty. It only took 30 seconds for BU’s Colby Cohen to pick up a rebound and slam it into the net to make it a 4-3 game.
Muse, who registered 31 saves on the night, held strong for the final 2:46, including a final-minute stretch that BU elected to play with an empty net. For his efforts, Muse earned the Beanpot MVP award and was appropriately mobbed by his teammates when the final buzzer sounded.
For more extensive coverage of the Beanpot, check out the upcoming Feb. 11 edition of The Heights.
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