Stinger

Photo from The Heights

After five straight Beanpot titles, it's time for somebody else to take that victory lap around The Garden. Thanks to a late third period goal, the Northeastern Huskies advanced to face Boston University in the championship next Monday night at 7:30 while BC will play Harvard in the consolation game.

In all honesty, nothing anyone can do except sit here and tip their caps to Coach Madigan and his team. They played harder, they made the plays, and they were the better hockey team. I thought Northeastern played an absolutely exceptional hockey game, especially in their own end where they held BC to just 23 shots. I questioned their defense all week long but they came out and played a fantastic game. They blocked shots, gapped well, didn't turn the puck over, in reality, they did all the things that you have to do in order to win those type of games. 

Everyone wants to talk about the officials and sure, our one power play to their five may be a bit unfair but to be totally honest, the penalties we took were, for the most part, easy calls. You can't tackle guys from behind the play, you can't get beat wide and then haul the guy down, you can't take a too many men penalty on the power play and expect to beat good hockey team. Trust me, I would be the first person to complain about the refs but NU just didn't do a whole lot of things that crossed the line, if any. They played as perfect a game as you possible can so give their players and their coaches all the credit in the world. 

As for BC, it's obviously a huge setback. It's not an AP Calculus problem, they just got outplayed by a group of guys that played harder and smarter than they did. Our defense is supposed to be the best unit in the country but not one guy played well last night. Killing penalties isn't an easy thing to do but it makes their job a lot easier when guys are left wide open in front of the net and can just walk right in from the point. I don't have the answers, and I bet no one in the locker room does either. They just got beat by a better hockey team but who knows, maybe we will see them again. 

It hurts to not be playing for a trophy next week but if they can find a way to bounce back vs Merrimack and Harvard, then they will put themselves in a position to make the NCAA tournament, something that has become a very realistic actuality thanks to their strong play as of late. 

It is my hope that they will remember what happened last night, take a picture of NU's celebration, and use it for motivation by the time that tournament rolls around and BC is locked and loaded. We will be back. 

Go Eagles.