By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff
The No. 11/13 Boston University men’s hockey team fell in the first round of the 61st Annual Beanpot to Northeastern University 3–2 Monday evening at TD Garden. The Terriers struggled to score on the power play, and a hat trick from Northeastern freshman Kevin Roy helped put BU in the consolation round for the second time in three years.
Three Up
Senior captain Wade Megan moved from a line centered by sophomore forward Cason Hohmann to one centered by freshman forward Danny O’Regan Monday night, and the move paid off for BU coach Jack Parker.
Megan, O’Regan and sophomore forward Evan Rodrigues combined for a nifty tic-tac-toe passing play on BU’s first goal of the game, which set up O’Regan for a goal in his first ever Beanpot game. Each of his wingers earned an assist on the play.
That line was the best for BU all night, and was the only real scoring threat until the final few minutes with freshman goaltender Matt O’Connor pulled.
Close to a comeback
It took until the final two minutes, but BU almost used a late surge in offense to tie the game. With O’Connor on the bench, freshman defenseman Matt Grzelcyk skated through a wave of Northeastern players and followed up on his own rebound chance to set junior Sahir Gill up for a goal.
Gill’s goal brought the score to 3–2 with 1:11 remaining, leaving BU enough time for one final effort for the goal. BU had its chances, but ultimately a high-stick call brought a faceoff into BU’s zone and finished out the rest of the game.
BU did not win the game, but the final two minutes showed BU’s resilience, which is something it showed in its 1–0–1 weekend against Providence College the weekend before.
Matt O’Connor
While he was not perfect on the night by any means, O’Connor certainly kept BU in the game all the way until the end. The freshman made 23 saves on the night, including an incredible split save to shut down Roy with a wide open net early in the game.
O’Connor played well for a freshman goalie in his first Beanpot, only allowing three goals — one of which was due to an ill-advised pass in front of his goal while he was in the corner. BU had its fair share of problems tonight, but O’Connor was not one of them.
Three Down
No Beanpot for seniors
Perhaps it was a teary-eyed Megan who put it best when he called not getting a Beanpot in his four years “pretty devastating.”
It is also something relatively new to anyone from BU. This is the first time a class has gone its entire BU career without winning a Beanpot since 1965.
For what had been a BU dominated tournament for many years, Boston College has a chance to leave its mark on the history books, as it will go for its fourth consecutive Beanpot championship Monday against Northeastern.
Ben Rosen’s turnover
The most critical and blatant BU mistake of the game came in the second period, when senior forward Ben Rosen passed the puck in front of his own net with O’Connor in the corner and Roy poked it in to make the score 2–1.
The play was the latest example of BU being too careless with the puck in its own defensive zone. O’Connor took too long to play the puck to a teammate, and Northeastern forward Steve Morra pressured him into making a quick pass to Rosen. The senior then quickly tried to get the puck to senior defenseman Sean Escobedo, but his pass went off-line and found a wide open Roy with the entire net in front of him.
The goal was too easy for Northeastern, as O’Connor was not anywhere near his crease as Roy scored his second goal of the game.
Shot selection
BU’s power play struggled to get into the offensive zone and set up all night, but when it finally did get set up it struggled to find the right time to shoot.
Whether it involved shooting the puck directly at a defender instead of passing the puck or hesitating to shoot when there was a shot available, the Terriers could not find the right time to shoot.
This has been a trend as of late from BU’s defensemen, especially on the power play when they have the best chance to create a quality scoring chance. If this does not improve soon, BU’s power play will have more performances like its 0-for-6 output it had Monday evening.
Whta happened to this team? They are such a disappointment. We are seriourly in freefall.
I am a senior and I have never experienced winning the Beanpot.
Spell check bud, you’re giving BU education a bad name.
This is not good. It’s time for a changing of the guard. No one seems to be having fun, players are constantly leaving for one reason or another. We are playing the easy part of schedule and getting hammered. This team is stale, the staff is stale and the administration is afraid to do anything about it. Note to Jack, you’re not going to catch Jerry York. We need fresh blood.
Jack not the problem despite the fact that he changed the highest scoring line in the country, over last month, for Beanpot game. The problem is selfish play and pathetic defense….the give away goal last night or a few weeks ago when Oksanen handed puck to NU player in front of own net along with generally poor passing and positioning by all defensemen ex. Gryz. Also, not playing physical game, not enough checking last night and completely outplayed along the boards for 3 straight periods.
Parker is such a loser. He has lost control of the team, he has lost his ability to motivate the team, and he has lost the respect of most of his players and many fans.
As much as I hate to say it, it might be time for ole Jack to hang em up. It seems like the sex scandal BS and circus surrounding the fallout has taken a lot out of him.
Watch, now is when makes its run, while we plummet