Judging strictly by records, Tuesday’s first Beanpot semifinal looked like a David-vs-Goliath matchup.
Goliath, otherwise known as Boston College, sported an impressive 13-9-4 overall record and stood tied for first in the Hockey East standings. Northeastern, on the other hand, was David, with a 5-20-1 record and already three head-to-head losses against its cross-town rival.
As the story goes, upstart David overcomes remarkable odds to topple Goliath. Right?
Not this time. Goliath won.
At 11:12 of overtime, BC’s Meghan Fardelmann sent a shot through a screen of players that found the back of the net and sent Boston College into next Tuesday’s Beanpot title game.
BC enjoyed a sizable shot advantage in the game, but the overtime frame was the result of senior goaltender Marisa Hourihan’s (44 saves) heroics for Northeastern.
“That’s what Beanpot games are all about — overtime games,” said BC coach Tom Mutch. “It just rips your heart out.”
“It was frustrating with the amount of shots we had,” said Fardelmann. “All last week, we practiced shooting from the outside. The more shots you take, the more opportunities you generate.”
The game was a seesaw affair throughout, as each team led at some point and no one could pull ahead by two goals.
Scoring started in the first, as Northeastern scored a four-on-four goal to take the early lead when defender Erin Reil fired a slapshot from the blueline that BC goalie Alison Quandt (18 saves) never saw.
The Eagles tied the game as a pair of BC players crashed the net, and Becky Zavisza knocked in the rebound of a Jill McInnis shot.
A shorthanded goal by Maggie Taverna in the second period gave Boston College its first lead of the game. A defensive breakdown for Northeastern led to a two-on-one break for Taverna and Deborah Spillane.
“A couple of mistakes really cost us,” said Northeastern coach Laura Schuler. “I think if we hadn’t made those mistakes, the game might have gone our way.”
Northeastern knotted the score with a goal remarkably similar to the first, as Crystal Rochon took a shot from the blueline that cleanly beat Quandt.
“The centerman did a good job to get it back to me,” said Rochon. “They did their job, and I did mine.”
Just 34 seconds later, BC recaptured the lead when McInnis, parked at the corner of the crease, tucked away another four-on-four goal.
Northeastern entered the third period trailing 1-0 on the scoreboard while getting doubled up on the shot count. Despite BC’s dominance, Rochon once again tied the game — this time at three, when her stick found the puck in a mad scramble in front of the net with seven minutes left to play.
In the waning moments of the third period, Northeastern’s Reil went to the box for hooking, and the Huskies had to withstand a furious power play assualt from Boston College. Hourihan stood tall in net, robbing Zavisza on a shot all alone in front of the net as the power play expired.
The third period drew to a close, setting the stage for Fardelmann’s goal. Prior to the game-winner, Northeastern often dominated play, forcing Boston College to ice the puck several times in succession.
“We did everything we needed to do in overtime,” said Rochon. “We made them ice the puck a ton. They just got lucky on the one shot.”
“We got stronger and stronger as the game went on,” said Schuler. “We started out slow, but by the third period and into overtime we played really well defensively.”
In a larger sense, Boston College is not a Goliath at all. Of the four Beanpot schools, the Eagles are the only team that has never won a Beanpot in 27 years of trying.
“We’re the only team that doesn’t have one. Even Brown has one,” said BC coach Tom Mutch. “It’s something we talked about this week. We wanted to put ourselves in the position where we could win one.”
Given Harvard’s scoring struggles as of late, this may be the Eagles’ best chance yet at the coveted championship.
