Last week, the Boston University men’s hockey team fell to the Northeastern Huskies in a 2-1 overtime battle at the TD Garden. This Monday at 4:30PM, the Terriers will play the consolation game against Harvard, who lost their semi-final game to Boston College.
“You don’t go into the Beanpot wanting to lose,” said BU head coach Albie O’Connell.
Although the Terriers have missed their chance at attaining the Beanpot title, they are still given the opportunity to finish in third place in Monday’s match.
Boston University (10-12-3, 8-6-2 Hockey East) played Harvard (11-7-3, 8-5-2 Ivy League) back on January 8, with the score ending in a 2-2 tie. The game remained relatively equal in both possession and the number of shots taken by each team; BU with 31 and Harvard with 28.
This past Friday, the Terriers played a rematch with #2 UMass, but were defeated by the Minutemen again 4-2. BU improved, however, conceding three less goals than they did when they played UMass on February 1.
Now, the Terriers must focus on Harvard. Narrowing in on some dangerous players from the Crimson are freshman forward Casey Dornbach and senior forward Lewis Zerter-Gossage. Dornbach is currently the second leading scorer in points with 22. His greatest strength is his excellent vision on the ice. Zerter-Gossage is currently leading the Crimson in goals with 12. As a senior, BU can expect him to come out hungry to finish out his last Beanpot tournament with a win.
Between the pipes for Harvard is senior Michael Lackey with a saving percentage of .925 this season, a similar mark to BU’s star goaltender, Jake Oettinger, who has a current saving percentage of .923.
Supporting Lackey in the back is junior defenseman Adam Fox. Fox is not only a power in the back, but is a very big threat in the attacking end. He is currently sitting first in the country, for defensemen, in scoring per game.
In order to pull out a win, BU is going to have to play a consistent 60-minute game. If the Terriers are able to do that, and have Oettinger play as well as he did in the previous Beanpot game, BU should finish in 3rd place for the 67th Beanpot tournament.
Be sure to follow our live blog for full coverage of the game! You can also listen to the game through goterriers.com.
Love these early games. They needs win today, not a moral victory. Get the 1st score then play good two way hockey for the whole 60 minutes. No Bobo again, he is sorely needed. What’s his injury? TK out!!