By Eric Getzoff
BU News Service
There’s something about Boston College this year. The Terriers swept the Eagles in a home-and-home earlier in January and, Monday night, completed their first regular-season sweep of BC since the 1994-1995 season with a 3-1 victory in the Beanpot semifinals.
With the win, the Terriers beat BC in the Beanpot for the first time in its last six tries, erasing a losing streak dating back to 2007. BU will match up with Harvard in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 inside TD Garden. BU beat Harvard earlier this season, a 5-3 victory at Agganis Arena on Nov. 22.
Monday’s victory came with the help of goals from three different Terriers, one of them being star freshman Clayton Keller. The forward extended his point streak to 15 games on a breakaway goal with nine minutes to play in the second period that extended the score to 3-1. “It was great to get the win tonight,” Keller said. “We’re focused on Friday, then the next game on Monday.”
The other goals came from sophomore Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, who netted the game’s first goal on a rebound from a wraparound attempt, and freshman Chad Krys, who notched a power-play goal to make the score 2-0 early in the middle frame.
The star of the game was freshman goaltender Jake Oettinger, who allowed just one goal. The netminder continued to better his goals against average, which stood at 1.79 before Monday’s game, good for first in the Hockey East Association. Oettinger didn’t have to make many tough saves but was active in the second period, a period in which the Eagles amassed 17 shots on goal. Oettinger finished with 22 saves, earning strong praise from BU head coach David Quinn.
“We defended hard against them,” Quinn said. “We have a great goalie, and that’s a big part of it too … For the most part, [Oettinger’s] been there to answer the bell when they do have real chances.”
BU appeared to make the score 4-1 in the third, but the referees negated a Ryan Cloonan goal midway through the period. Cloonan pushed the puck through Eagle goaltender Joseph Woll’s pads, but the referees ruled Woll was pushed into the net, which caused the puck to roll through his legs and into the net.
Before even thinking about hoisting the Beanpot trophy, the Terriers (19-7-2, 11-4-2 HEA) will prepare for a Friday-night rematch with UMass Lowell. Last Saturday, the Terriers took home a 4-2 victory in the teams’ latest matchup. “We won’t start talking about Harvard till Saturday,” Quinn said.
UMass Lowell is 17-9-3 overall and 9-7-1 in the Hockey East.
If they win Monday’s title bout, history favors the Terriers. Following each of the last two times BU has won the Beanpot, the Terriers advanced to the NCAA championship. In 2009, they won it all.
