Seniors Shine In Beanpot Opener

BOSTON — When asked about the Beanpot, Boston College assistant captain Ben Smith said he wanted to go out on top. After Monday night's 6-0 victory over Harvard, he and his fellow seniors are one step closer to doing just that.

"I thought our senior class was outstanding," said BC head coach Jerry York. "It just really jumped out at me how well they played."

While it took a complete Eagle effort to earn the win, the four seniors played a big hand in the blowout. Smith, captain Matt Price, and defenseman Carl Sneep all scored goals, while assistant captain Matt Lombardi quietly helped lead the first line. More importantly, the seniors' scores and assists happened during important moments in the match-up, which prevented Harvard from gaining any momentum.

"I thought the last six or seven minutes of the first period we had some great chances," said Harvard head coach Ted Donato. "But then in the second period, they scored the goal right out of the gate, which hurt."

Scoring that key goal early in the second period was none other than Price, off a pass from Sneep. York described the score as "a huge goal," and it allowed BC to take a commanding lead in the game by taking the wind out of Harvard's sails.

Only 18 seconds into the period, with a four-on-four situation due to late first-period penalties, Sneep found Price wide open on the right side of the ice. Harvard's defense, which looked confused and slow to the puck all night, didn't react in time, and Price was able to line up his shot. He ripped the wrister right past Harvard goaltender Kyle Richter's glove side, and the Eagles' lead was stretched to 2-0.

"[BC is] a very good team if you allow them to free wheel like we did," Donato said.
Despite coming into the game with only a .207 conversion on power-play opportunities, BC made sure to take hold of the chances that Harvard gave them. Right from the onset, the Eagles were able to do just that, recording three of their six goals on power plays, including their first score to put them ahead 1-0.

"When you give a team like that 12 power plays," Donato said, "I don't like anybody's chances."

Just five minutes into the game, Harvard had already been called for two interference penalties. While the Crimson killed the first, the Eagles refused to be denied, and a little under six minutes into the game, Smith struck first.

He skated right in front of Richter, trying to put home a rebound off a shot by Steven Whitney, but instead was quickly shoved to the ice. As Smith fell down, he was able to nick just enough of the puck to send it a few feet to an awaiting Brian Gibbons behind the net. Smith then recovered, received the quick pass from Gibbons, and drove the shot home to put the Eagles on the board first.

Not to be outdone, Sneep and Lombardi also stepped up for the Eagles. While Lombardi didn't tally any assists or goals, he helped dictate the flow of the game.
"Matt Lombardi is just a really good physical force for us," York said.

As for Sneep, he continued to have yet another solid game in what is amounting to be his best season as an Eagle. He led all seniors on the night with a goal and two assists. Sneep also helped captain a defense that was playing without regulars Tommy Cross and Patrick Wey, due to injuries.

The result was more playing time for Sneep, sophomore Edwin Shea, and freshmen Brian Dumoulin and Philip Samuelsson. Walk-ons Patch Alber and Malcolm Lyles played sparingly. Regardless of the required extra minutes for the four players, the Eagles defense held strong, as did goaltender John Muse, creating the 6-0 shutout.
"It was one of those nights where we really weren't able to get much going," Donato said. "They did a good job getting it out of the zone."

Up 3-0 heading into the third period, the Harvard defense broke down even more. Frustrations became quite evident, as both Daniel Moriarty and Ryan Grimshaw were assessed 10-minute misconducts.

The seniors simply continued to do what they do best, and both Smith and Sneep recorded assists on the Eagles' fourth and fifth goals. Then, with under six minutes to play and almost from the blue line, Sneep received a pass from Shea and proceeded to snipe a shot right past Richter.

"It was evident to me watching their play, that these four seniors were really instrumental in the win," York said.

Now they must prepare to face a Boston University squad that has beaten them in their past two match-ups. The last time the rivals squared off against one another in the Beanpot championship was in 2007, when the seniors were freshmen. The Terriers came away with a 2-1 overtime victory that night.

This time around, the seniors will try to make sure things play out differently.