BU Bakes Crimson's Beans

BOSTON--Both Boston University and Harvard pulled up to the starting gate at the same time.

Unfortunately for the Harvard fans, the Crimson was dangerously low on fuel.

By the time the team came out for the third period of play last night in the 40th annual Beanpot Tournament finals, it became clear that the Crimson was out of gas.

After an exhausting six games in just over a week, including two overtime matches in the last three days, Harvard collapsed within sight of the finish.

Harvard gritted it out for 40 minutes, hanging with BU 3-2. But in the third period, Harvard finally succumbed to the Terriers, allowing two goals to give BU a 5-2 win and the coveted Beanpot.

"I thought for the first two periods, we played just as well as they did, five-on-five," junior forward Steve Flomenhoft said. "But when the third came, we had nothing more to give."

With last night's win, BU (20-5-2, 8-5-2 Hockey East) captured third straight Beanpot, its fifth in the last seven years.

"BU keeps on chugging along," Terrier Coach Jack Parker said. "People keep asking me how we do so well: we get good players."

The Crimson lost its third straight Beanpot match to the Terriers. Harvard's last win against BU came in 1989, when the Crimson downed the Terriers in the Beanpot championship, 9-6.

With the loss, Harvard drops to 10-4-5 overall, giving the team a 1-3-0 record in non-conference games.

The turning point in the game came 16 seconds into the third period, when tournament MVP freshman Mike Prendergast went one-on-one with Harvard goalie Chuckie Hughes and converted to give his team a 4-2 lead.

"That one was kind of tough," Hughes said.

While BU didn't outshoot the Crimson by much (37-35), the Terriers were in control throughout the game.

The well-organized offensive attack that symbolized Harvard's play over its 10-game undefeated streak was frustrated by a stingy Terrier defense.

No doubt the absence of freshman scoring starSteve Martins didn't help. Martins didn't suit upfor last night's game after he was sidelined by agame after he was sidelined by a shoulder injuryover the weekend road trip.

Harvard especially missed the freshman on thepower play, where he is normally an integralmember.

Against BU, Harvard went 0-for-4 in power playsituations.

The Terriers worked Harvard over for most ofthe first 20 minutes of play, but the Crimsonsomehow managed to head to the locker room with a2-2 tie.

BU got on the board at 5:43, during its firstpower play of the night.

After winning the face-off in the Harvard end,Prendergast passed to forward Mike Pomichter, whofed scoring star junior David Sacco in front ofthe blue line. Sacco blasted a shot andPrendergast streaked towards the net to tip itpast Hughes.

Harvard didn't get many opportunities topressure BU goalie Scott Cashman in the earlygoing--the Terriers outshot the Crimson 7-2 in thefirst six minutes of play--but when it did, theCrimson produced.

Harvard capitalized on its first serious flurryof shots with around eight minutes remaining inthe period. After turning away a bevy of Crimsonshots, Cashman allowed senior Tim Burke toredirect a Flomenhoft shot into the net to tiethe score at one.

BU came back just over a minute later, whenjunior Mike Bavis guided in a teammate's blue lineshot to reclaim the lead for the Terriers.

Harvard tied the game at two on a stunningKevin Sneddon blue-line bullet at 18:04 which leftno one more surprised then Sneddon himself.

The Crimson fended off the Terriers for theremainder of the first period and the beginning ofthe second frame.

BU managed to touch Harvard again, however, at7:06 on a carbon copy of the team's second goal.Bavis sent in a shot from the right side whichfreshman Rich Brennan pushed by Hughes for thescore.

While the Terriers couldn't manage any morepoints in the period, they clearly dominated afrustrated Harvard squad.

The Crimson had several breakaways in the last10 minutes of the period but couldn't convert anyof them.

Meanwhile, on defense, Harvard had all thebreaks going its way, including having an apparentlastminute Prendergast goal called back because ofa penalty.

Prendergast got his revenge, however, with hisearly third-period tally to make the score 4-2.

The Terriers padded their lead when Bavisscored his second goal of the evening.CrimsonMike F. KoehlerSEAN MCCANN duels with BU's DAN DONATO forthe puck in a battle of defensemen. The Terriers'win was their third in three years. Parker's ninthwin makes him the all-time winningest 'Potcoach.

No doubt the absence of freshman scoring starSteve Martins didn't help. Martins didn't suit upfor last night's game after he was sidelined by agame after he was sidelined by a shoulder injuryover the weekend road trip.

Harvard especially missed the freshman on thepower play, where he is normally an integralmember.

Against BU, Harvard went 0-for-4 in power playsituations.

The Terriers worked Harvard over for most ofthe first 20 minutes of play, but the Crimsonsomehow managed to head to the locker room with a2-2 tie.

BU got on the board at 5:43, during its firstpower play of the night.

After winning the face-off in the Harvard end,Prendergast passed to forward Mike Pomichter, whofed scoring star junior David Sacco in front ofthe blue line. Sacco blasted a shot andPrendergast streaked towards the net to tip itpast Hughes.

Harvard didn't get many opportunities topressure BU goalie Scott Cashman in the earlygoing--the Terriers outshot the Crimson 7-2 in thefirst six minutes of play--but when it did, theCrimson produced.

Harvard capitalized on its first serious flurryof shots with around eight minutes remaining inthe period. After turning away a bevy of Crimsonshots, Cashman allowed senior Tim Burke toredirect a Flomenhoft shot into the net to tiethe score at one.

BU came back just over a minute later, whenjunior Mike Bavis guided in a teammate's blue lineshot to reclaim the lead for the Terriers.

Harvard tied the game at two on a stunningKevin Sneddon blue-line bullet at 18:04 which leftno one more surprised then Sneddon himself.

The Crimson fended off the Terriers for theremainder of the first period and the beginning ofthe second frame.

BU managed to touch Harvard again, however, at7:06 on a carbon copy of the team's second goal.Bavis sent in a shot from the right side whichfreshman Rich Brennan pushed by Hughes for thescore.

While the Terriers couldn't manage any morepoints in the period, they clearly dominated afrustrated Harvard squad.

The Crimson had several breakaways in the last10 minutes of the period but couldn't convert anyof them.

Meanwhile, on defense, Harvard had all thebreaks going its way, including having an apparentlastminute Prendergast goal called back because ofa penalty.

Prendergast got his revenge, however, with hisearly third-period tally to make the score 4-2.

The Terriers padded their lead when Bavisscored his second goal of the evening.CrimsonMike F. KoehlerSEAN MCCANN duels with BU's DAN DONATO forthe puck in a battle of defensemen. The Terriers'win was their third in three years. Parker's ninthwin makes him the all-time winningest 'Potcoach.