Men's Hockey Topped by BU in Beanpot Thriller

BOSTON—Midway through the second period of the 63rd annual Beanpot, the No. 6/6 Harvard men’s ice hockey team (12-6-2, 8-4-2 ECAC) had hit its stride. Goals from sophomore forwards Alex Kerfoot and Sean Malone in their long awaited returns had the Crimson up 3-1 and on the verge of its first championship appearance since 2008.

But two unanswered Boston University goals later, the score was level again. And after an ensuing 42-minute stalemate, the No. 3/2 Terriers (17-4-4, 11-2-2 Hockey East) found the breakthrough they needed 2:18 into double overtime to come away with a 4-3 victory.

BU forward Evan Rodrigues helped put an end to the instant classic, picking off junior forward Kyle Criscuolo and charging up the left wing. From his backhand, Rodrigues centered a pass for junior forward Danny O’Regan in the slot, and the Needham, Mass., native pushed the puck past junior goaltender Steve Michalek to send the Terrier bench into a frenzy.

“Definitely a special feeling,” O’Regan said. “I was 0-for-my-first-5 [against brother Tommy O'Regan], but this was probably the biggest one.”

O’Regan’s shot was one of very few to escape the grasp of Michalek, who finished the game with a career high—and Beanpot record—63 saves.

The junior made his biggest stop of the game, and perhaps the season, four minutes into the first overtime period. Rookie phenom Jack Eichel delivered a pass across the crease to Rodrigues, but Michalek sprawled to his left to deny him on the doorstep.

Michalek stopped 18 shots in the first overtime period alone. BU had several additional chances as well, ringing two posts less than a minute apart and having a shot blocked by junior defenseman Brayden Jaw on Michalek’s right post.

Despite the Terriers’ advantage in the shot count, sophomore forward Tyler Moy had a golden opportunity to end the game in the first added frame. Much like the overtime breakaway junior forward Jimmy Vesey had at BU in November, Moy entered the Terrier zone with no one to beat but goaltender Matt O’Connor. But upon entering the slot, the sophomore lost control of the puck, ending the threat.

“We needed to be opportunistic and finish a couple of the outnumbered rushes,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “It looked to me like we ran out of gas a little bit.”

One period after Malone put the team on his back with an unassisted goal to make it 3-1, the Crimson nearly avoided overtime altogether by putting the puck on his back.

After O’Connor failed to corral a shot from rookie Jake Horton, Malone crashed the net, going flying into the BU netminder. Looking to clean up the mess, freshman Seb Lloyd lifted a shot that landed on the back of Malone, which appeared to be positioned over the goal line. But after a review, the referees signaled no goal, maintaining that there was inconclusive evidence to overturn the call, rather than goaltender interference.

“The magic of technology has shown that it did go in,” Donato said. “So I’m sure that’s a little bit frustrating for everybody.”

The three pucks that did cross the line for the Crimson came over the first two periods. One minute after senior forward Cason Hohmann opened the scoring for the Terriers, Harvard’s first line responded. Extending his point streak to 20 games, junior forward Jimmy Vesey assisted classmate Kyle Criscuolo’s score on the doorstep with 1:55 remaining in the first period.

In their return to the ice, Kerfoot and Malone tacked on two more to open up a 3-1 second period lead. In the first minute of the frame, Criscuolo took a failed BU clear and threw it in front for Kerfoot, who pushed it past O’Connor for his first goal since November 11. Malone’s score followed eight minutes later.

But the Terriers were unfazed. Rookie forward Nikolas Olsson cut the lead in half with 4:26 to go in the period, and junior forward Ahti Oksanen provided a top shelf equalizer in the final minute.

The two goals came over a 20-minute stretch where BU outshot the Crimson, 20-0. But Michalek kept Harvard in the game with a number of timely saves throughout the contest before ultimately surrendering the game-winner to O’Regan.

With the win, the Terriers snapped a five-game losing streak to the Crimson. They will take on Northeastern in the championship game Monday, while Harvard awaits No. 11/12 Boston College in the consolation game.

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jake.meagher@thecrimson.com.