Tomorrow night, BU will look to get back to the Beanpot Championship Game, but will have to go through a feisty Northeastern team that has already dealt the Terriers a loss this season. Last year, if you don't recall, BU lost the longest Beanpot championship game to date to Boston College 3-2 with 6 seconds left in the first overtime. Prior to that, BU and Northeastern had the longest championship game. That ended when Chris Bourque dove across the crease and hit in a pass from Brian Miller. Anyway, enough with the history lesson and on to tomorrow night.
Earlier this year, BU and NU played a thrilling (at least for the fans) game at Agganis. Northeastern took a 5-2 lead into the third period, only to see BU storm back and tie the game. Then Vinny Saponari, the former Terrier found the back of the net with under three minutes to play.
Tomorrow night, Matt O'Connor will be in net. NU faced Sean Maguire in the game three weeks ago. For BU, the key to winning this game will be slowing down Freshman standout Kevin Roy, who single-handedly killed the Terriers in that game. In addition, turnovers need to be limited. That is how NU scored the bulk of their goals on BU before. One that really stands out was a play that Ahti Oksanen made when he cut right in front of his own net. He was pick pocketed by Roy, who then torched Maguire, who had no chance. Turnovers were also a huge problem in the UMass game Friday night. They directly led to at least two goals.
NU will more than likely send Senior goalie Chris Rawlings between the pipes tomorrow night. In 27 appearances, the North Delta, British Columbia native holds a 7-8-1 record with a .910 save percentage and a 2.88 goals against average. Kevin Roy is by far the team leader in points with 27, eight ahead of Saponari.
The Last Time They Met in the Beanpot...
was in the first round of the 2010 tournament. BU skated away with a 2-1 win on the back of Alex Chiasson's goal late in the third period.
Beanpots by Schools:
BU- 29
BC- 17
Harvard- 10
Northeastern- 4
BU and BC have won every tournament played since 1993, when Harvard came away with the title... NU has not won the 'pot since 1988.
Picks
BU 5, Northeastern 3
BC 3, Harvard 1
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