Northeastern wins 3rd straight Beanpot, beats BU 5-4 in 2OT

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Northeastern needed one of the longest games in Beanpot history to prove that it was still the top dog.

Jordan Harris made sure the Huskies retained that title over the Boston University Terriers.

Harris scored 14:33 into double overtime, and No. 12 Northeastern beat Boston University 5-4 to win the 68th annual Beanpot championship Monday night.

The Huskies (15-8-3) won their third straight Beanpot title for the first time. The feat was last achieved when Boston College won five in a row from 2010-14.

“There is nothing like the Beanpot, honestly,” the sophomore Harris said. “(I’ve) been fortunate enough to win a couple. Whenever you get the chance to play on a stage like this it’s unique, and it’s why I came to Northeastern.”

Northeastern beat BU 5-2 in 2018 to win their first Beanpot since 1988, and then topped BC 4-2 last year to win back-to-back titles for the first time since 1984-85.

Harris skated into the high slot and fired a wrist shot that sailed untouched under Terriers goalie Sam Tucker with 46 seconds remaining on a Huskies power play.

“Coach (Jim Madigan) just kind of mentioned if we get the puck, just try to push it to the middle and try to get a shot on net,” Harris said. “I tried to do just that, and thankfully a lane opened up and it went in. It was pretty special.”

Aidan McDonough had a goal and three assists for the Huskies. Tyler Madden, Zach Solow and Grant Jozefek also scored for Northeastern, and Julian Kislin had three assists. Craig Pantano made 40 saves.

The game lasted 79 minutes and 23 seconds, making it the second-longest Beanpot title game in history.

“I thought it was a great hockey game. They pushed, we pushed, they pushed back. Back and forth,” Madigan said. “From my end, it was a great Beanpot game.”

Northeastern’s Ryan Shea drew a tripping penalty at 13:18 of the second OT that led to the decisive power play. BU’s Patrick Harper had a neutral-zone giveaway and appeared to take Shea down as he skated deep into the Terriers’ zone.

“The one thing I will say is that the diving in that game that was called, unreal. Unreal,” Terriers coach Albie O’Connell said. “Karma didn’t catch up to that one, but it will. It’s just a tough thing to watch.”

Boston University (10-9-8) came up short in its bid to add to its tournament record of 30 Beanpot crowns, which is 10 better than second-place rival BC. The Terriers have not won since 2015, when they beat Northeastern 4-3 in overtime in the title game.

Trevor Zegras had two goals and Jake Wise and David Farrance also scored for the Terriers. Ashton Abel allowed four goals on 14 shots before he was replaced by Tucker, who finished with 18 saves.

Due to NCAA rules implemented this season, the game was officially recorded as a draw for both teams. After teams play one five-minute overtime, the NCAA awards a tie and does not count any stats from additional overtimes.

In the afternoon consolation, No. 7 Boston College cruised to a 7-2 win against Harvard. Jack McBain had a pair of goals, Matt Boldy added a goal and two assists and Spencer Knight made 26 saves for the Eagles.

BC blew multiple two-goal leads before falling 5-4 in double overtime to the Terriers in last Monday’s semifinal. Northeastern beat Harvard 3-1 in its opener to reach its 20th Beanpot title game.

The four-team tournament played on the first two Mondays in February has been mostly dominated by BU and BC since its inception in 1952. Harvard is a distant third with 11 Beanpot titles while Northeastern has won seven.

The Terriers reached the title game in five of the last six seasons and 54 of 68 overall.

After the Terriers pulled Tucker with 1 1/2 minutes remaining, Zegras forced OT with his second goal as time expired in regulation. The freshman collected a pass from Wise through the crease, pulled the puck out from behind the net and backhanded it in.

“They scored pretty late there, we were a little deflated,” said Solow, who was named the Beanpot’s MVP. “But the message was just stick together, stay simple. We’ve been in this situation before.”

Solow also had an assist Monday and totaled a pair of goals in the tournament. Pantano won the Eberly Award with the tournament’s top save percentage (.931).

Farrance got BU within a goal 1:56 into the third when his shot from the high slot deflected off a defender’s stick and got past Pantano.

Madden scored the first of the Huskies’ four consecutive goals in an 8 1/2-minute span on a left-circle wrist shot 2:53 into the second period.

McDonough tied it nearly three minutes later on a wrist shot from the slot, and Solow scored from the same spot just 15 seconds into a 5-on-3 power play to give Northeastern the lead with 10:18 left.

Jozefek’s power-play goal less than two minutes later made it 4-2 and capped the Huskies’ surge of four goals on four shots.

The Terriers led 2-0 after the first on goals by Wise and Zegres.

Wise scored at 2:49, poking in a loose puck after Matthew Quercia’s initial shot from the point was stopped by Pantano.

Zegres skated into the left circle and beat Pantano glove-side on a wrist shot with 12:10 left in the opening period.