Boston College sophomore Bill Arnold scored with 6.4 seconds left in overtime to give No. 3 Boston College the Beanpot Tournament title over No. 2 Boston University, 3-2. This is the third straight Beanpot title for the Eagles and the fourth straight time BC has beaten BU in the tournament.
Pat Mullane got the scoring started for the Eagles (19-10-1, 13-7-1 Hockey East) on a short-handed goal with 11 minutes, 6 seconds remaining in the first period, as he was able to deke around Max Nicastro and beat BU goalkeeper Kieran Millan short side to give BC a 1-0 lead.
The Terriers (17-10-1, 13-7-1 HEA) fell two men down late in the second period, but were able to kill off the penalties thanks in large part to many key saves by Millan. BU responded shortly after on its own power-play opportunity when Matt Nieto hit Garrett Noonan on a cross-ice pass for the game-tying goal.
The tie didn’t last long as the Eagles’ Johnny Gaudreau was able to dig the puck out from behind the net and hit Chris Kreider in the slot to give BC a 2-1 advantage with just 1:18 left in the second period, which it took into the second intermission.
The Terriers were able to tie the game up with 12:48 left in the third period when Noonan buried his second goal of the game after redirecting an Adam Clendening pass past BC goalkeeper Parker Milner’s right pad.
The game stayed tied at 2-2 for the remainder of the third period and well into the overtime frame. The game seemed destined to go into a second overtime, until Arnold took the puck into slot and beat Millan over his glove with 6.4 seconds left to give the Eagles their 17 th Beanpot title.
BU still owns the most Beanpot titles with 29 and the loss marks the first time it has gone more than three years without winning the title since 1983-85.
Providence Gains Four Crucial Points in Hockey East Standings
The Providence Friars were able to pick up four important points this past weekend with wins over No. 12 Maine and Massachusetts.
The Friars (12-14-2, 10-10-1 HEA) were able to edge the No. 12 Black Bears (17-9-3, 12-8-2 HEA), 4-3, on Friday night, giving the Friars their first win over their Maine foes since January 2010, ending Maine’s six-game winning streak in the process.
Providence was paced early by three first period goals and was able to withstand the Black Bears’ two-goal second period, taking a 3-2 lead into the third period. Friars junior Tim Schaller scored the eventual game-winning goal with 12:58 to play in the third period by beating Maine goalkeeper Dan Sullivan short side. Schaller’s goal was his 12th of the season, leading the Friars in that category.
As Maine pushed to tie the game up, it was able to get one goal closer when Joey Diamond scored with 1:10 left in the third period, but the Friars were able to hold off the Black Bears’ final push and secured a much needed victory.
The Friars picked up its third and fourth points of the weekend when it defeated UMass (10-13-5, 6-11-4 HEA), 5-4, Saturday night on the road.
Providence scored two goals within the first five minutes of the game against the Minutemen, a deficit that proved to be too much for UMass to overcome. The Friars never relinquished the lead and were able to build a comfortable 4-1 lead going into the third period. However, UMass forward Michael Pereira was able to notch two early goals in the third period, his second and third of the game, giving him his second hat trick of the season and bringing the Minutemen within striking distance of Providence.
The Friars were able to regain its two-goal cushion with a power-play goal from Shane Luke 9:11 into the third period. Once again, the lead was cut to one when UMass forward Patrick Kiley notched his third goal of the season with 5:51 remaining in the game.
The Friars were able to hold on to the one-goal lead as the win moved them into sixth place in the conference standings.
Patrick Strohecker can be reached at [email protected].
