Eagles Soar Past Crimson

Just about every February, the Beanpot opening round remains a simple formality, a mere prelude to the inevitable Boston College-Boston University, “Battle of Comm. Ave,” that the finals have become. Take away the last 2 years, and BC has gone up against BU in six out of the previous eight Beanpots.

Yesterday, the Eagles opened up the Beanpot tournament against an underachieving but streaky Harvard squad. From the start, the atmosphere at the TD Banknorth Garden was antagonistic both on and off the ice. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Harvard student section attempted to make up for their team’s embarrassing showing by attacking that of BC’s relentlessly. However, the Eagle fans drowned out the Crimson’s fans’ weak chants of “SAFETY SCHOOL” by celebrating goal after goal put past Harvard’s “goalie” Kyle Richter.

Harvard’s hostility in the stands proved to be symbolic of their team’s Achilles heel on the ice: penalties. The Crimson committed 17 penalties for a staggering 58 minutes (including an unacceptable 44 for in the third period), enabling six different BC players to score on the way to a 6-0 annihilation of Harvard. Made easier by stout defense from Carl Sneep, who also added a goal and two assists, John Muse turned away 33 shots en route to BC’s first clean sheet in Beanpot play since 2002. Such defensive prowess was a sigh of relief for Eagle fans, especially considering last year’s lackluster 6-1 defeat at the hands of Northeastern in the 2009 Beanpot semifinals.

Standing at an abysmal 5-12-3, Harvard could not have been expecting too much from this year’s Beanpot. However, with neither BC nor BU being as dominant this year as the hockey world has come to expect of them, they certainly had a shot. Now, as they look to regroup, BC looks past the Crimson to a familiar opponent in the rival BU Terriers, who defeated Northeastern 2-1 in a nail-biter yesterday.

Advancing for the fourth time in five years, the Eagles must not get complacent against a Terrier team that is much better than their record indicates. Despite a 4-1 Eagles win at Agganis Arena the first time these teams met this year, BU has since had their number, defeating the Eagles in a pair of one-goal games at Fenway Park and Conte Forum. If Boston College hopes to rectify these disappointments next Monday, they must not come out as they have in the last two meetings. In addition, they must exploit power play opportunities as they did last night, and John Muse must bring a similar type of defensive solidity.

While next week’s championship is anyone’s game, one thing is certain. With the Backyard Brawl in full-force, the Garden will be rocking.

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