A three-game skid had Boston University in dire need of a signature win entering the Beanpot semifinals Monday night.
Cole Hutson delivered.
After regulation and overtime weren’t enough to decide the Terriers’ (12-13-2) fourth one-goal finish against Northeastern this year, the Washington Capitals prospect tallied the tie-breaking goal on the final shootout attempt of a wild, 3-2 finish that propelled the defending Beanpot champions back to the championship game for a second straight year.
It’s a battle of Commonwealth Ave once again against Boston College next Monday for the Beanpot title, and a rematch of a 4-1 loss for the Terriers to the Eagles on Jan. 30. The win counts as a tie for the Terriers’ record, but there’s no mistaking the lift this gives them.
“It was super cool,” Hutson said. “Obviously the team needed to win. Just happy to win it.”
Both teams felt they deserved to win a game that developed into the Beanpot’s first semifinal shootout in history.
Twice Northeastern took the lead while junior goalie Lawton Zacher (36 saves) starred in net with a couple highlight-reel stops. Twice BU rallied in the second period, and traded defensive stands in a gutsy effort from both to keep each other off the board in the third. The Terriers thought they won it with 33.7 seconds left in overtime on Minnesota Wild prospect Ryder Ritchie’s goal, but it was waved off for an interference penalty on Gavin McCarthy that helped free up the scoring lane.
Jack Harvey scored in the first round of the shootout for a BU lead. Northeastern leading scorer Dylan Hryckowian (goal, assist) responded, and both Zacher and Terriers goalie Mikhail Yegorov (24 saves) denied the next two bids before it would finally be decided by Hutson.
“I really liked our effort tonight, really from start to finish,” said BU head coach Jay Pandolfo. “I thought we deserved that win. … It’s too bad that we couldn’t get the job done in regulation or in overtime, but listen, we got the job done. We really needed that. I felt really happy for our guys, obviously it’s been a bit of a struggle recently.”
Turning to Harvey and sophomore Cole Eiserman for the first two rounds of the shootout was a quick call for Pandolfo. He asked Hutson if he was up for it to take the third, and he nodded.
His shot deflected off of Zacher and slowly slid in, but it was plenty to end the marathon.
“From my angle, it looked like low glove was open on the first two shots,” Hutson said. “When I got there it just wasn’t there. So, I just kind of made a random move and it went in.”
Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe felt good about his team’s performance throughout.
“You just feel for the guys in the room because I know how much it means to them,” Keefe said. “Our group went out and gave ourselves a chance today, and unfortunately we lost in a shootout.”
Hryckowian gave Northeastern a 1-0 lead in the first period on a power-play goal, finishing off a stellar set up from Vinny Borgesi and Amine Hajibi, passing around the net in a tight space.
Bruins prospect Jonathan Morello tied up the game at 1-1 less than two minutes into the second, only for Jacob Mathieu to respond soon after to retake the lead.
BU’s Nick Roukounakis evaded two Northeastern defenders through the neutral zone to create an open lane on a rush 7:44 into the second, and he potted it for the 2-2 tie.
“Originally I was looking low glove but the second I looked up the second time, I noticed he was a little bit off his angle,” Roukounakis said. “Blocker side just had a little more room than I thought.”
Otherwise, Zacher was phenomenal.
“He did everything he could,” Keefe said. “He had a strong game for us.”
Keefe wasn’t thrilled with under three minutes left in overtime that a penalty wasn’t called on BU’s Eiserman, who collided with Zacher as he tried to get around the last layer of Northeastern’s defense. Zacher laid on the ice for several minutes before staying in the game.
After BU had its game-winner with 33.7 seconds left waved off, momentum seemed to be in Northeastern’s favor as the crowd’s cheer was deafening with an upcoming power play.
The Terriers held it off.
“We had no doubt we were killing that penalty,” Hutson said.
