Beanpot Tournament 2019

posted February 7, 2019 in CommRadio, Sports by Christopher Hess

Since 1952, the Beanpot has become Boston’s “social event of the winter season.” The first two Monday nights in February at TD Garden in Boston’s North End have features of the country’s best college hockey from four Boston-area universities: Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard.

All four schools have extremely rich hockey traditions and have a number of talented NHL prospects each year.

Boston University has the most Beanpot championships with 30 total titles and the Boston College follows with 20. Harvard has 11 titles and Northeastern has won only five times, but they did win the most recent Beanpot in 2018.

Since 2015, each team has won the title and this year bragging rights will go to either Boston College or Northeastern, with Harvard and Boston University battling for third place.

In the PairWise Rankings, Harvard and Northeastern are the two teams that are serious contenders for a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson come in at No.17 and Northeastern sits pretty at No.11.

With all of the hype building around the final two games, let’s take a look at how the two first-round games panned out:

Boston College 2  No. 17 Harvard 1

Patrick Giles kicked off the scoring for Boston College just 4:57 minutes into the first period, ripping a shot past Crimson net-minder Michael Lackey.

As the second period progressed, Harvard drew even at the 15:37 minute mark as Henry Bowlby found the back of the net to tie the game at one heading into the third.

The Eagles then got the winning goal at the 12:22 minute mark in the third on a goal from Jack McBain. BC only registered 18 shots on goal but took advantage of its opportunities when they came. As a result, the Eagles were able to punch a ticket to the Beanpot championship game.

No. 13 Northeastern 2, Boston University 1 in OT

The Huskies came out of the gate hot as they were able to find the back of the net 3:14 minutes into the first period, courtesy of Patrick Schule.

Goals were hard to come by for the remainder of the period until Joel Farabee was able to put a rebound past Montreal Canadiens prospect Cayden Primeau to tie the game at one.

Then the goals turned virtually non-existent as no scoring in the second and third frames culminated in overtime.

Just :51 seconds into the first overtime period, Tyler Madden was able to provide the winning tally. The Huskies flooded out onto the ice and Madden celebrated with a dive and a snow angel, sending Northeastern to the Beanpot championship once again.

With high levels of excitement in both games thus far, it’s not outlandish to think that the final two games could provide even more energy as city bragging rights are on the line.

With that recap, let’s take a look at what we may expected on the championship and third place games:

No. 17 Harvard (11-6-3) versus Boston University (10-12-3)

When looking at Harvard, they present an extremely balanced attack led by Lewis Zerter-Gossage, Carolina Hurricanes prospect Adam Fox and New Jersey Devils prospect Reilly Walsh.

Fox leads the team in 20 assists and 27 points. Zerter-Gossage has lit the lamp 12 times and Walsh has also contributed 12 assists along with seven goals.

In net, Michael Lackey has a record of 11-6-3 and holds a save percentage of .925 to complement 2.13 goals allowed per game.

BU’s offense averages 2.8 goals per game and is led by freshman forward Joel Farabee. The up-and-coming Farabee was taken 14th overall in the 2018 draft by the Philadelphia Flyers and has registered 10 goals along with 14 assists for 24 total points.

Nashville Predators prospect Dante Fabbro has racked up 17 assists from his defensemen spot. He really has a knack for making the extra pass and being unselfish out on the ice.

Dallas Stars draftee Jake Oettinger has a record of 10-11-3 in net and a save percentage of .923, tied in with a goals against average of 2.68.

Sixty minutes may not simply be enough for this matchup. Expect physical play from both sides and the motivation factor will certainly be to not come in last.

Harvard will do just enough to fight off a pesky Terrier squad and will come in third place.

Prediction:  Harvard 3-2 in overtime.

No. 13 Northeastern (16-8-1) vs Boston College (10-12-3)

The Huskies have an offense that has a knack for the big play at any time, as we have seen in the past in games against BU and University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Tyler Madden, a third-round selection of the Vancouver Canucks in the 2018 draft, cored both of those overtime goals, has nine goals on the season along with 21 total points.

Zach Solow leads the team in goals with 11 and freshman forward Grant Jozefek is just one goal behind him. Cayden Primeau is the man in net and he has a record of 14-7-1, alongside a save percentage of .922 and goals allowed average of 2.36.

For Boston College, they rank 50th out of 60 teams on offense, averaging just 2.38 goals per contest.

David Cotton, a sixth-round selection for the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2015 draft, is the leader of the BC offense with 24 points consisting of 15 goals and nine assists.

Freshman Oliver Wahlstrom, drafted by the New York Islanders in the first-round of the 2018 draft, is also an extremely prolific player contributing 13 points.

In the crease, junior Joseph Woll has a record of 9-11-3 with a save percentage of .923 and a 2.26 goals allowed average.

On paper, Northeastern is clearly the better team but Boston College has been playing with a bit of an underdog mentality this season. BC is a blue-blood program that is desperately trying to get back to competing for national titles like in years’ past. A win here would be a large stepping stone for the future.

This game will be much closer than people expect. Northeastern, however, will overpower the Eagles in the third period and will win the Beanpot for the second year in a row, accompanied by another amazing Tyler Madden celebration.

Prediction: Northeastern 4-2.

 


Christopher Hess is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in history. To contact him, email christopherhess22@gmail.com.