Contact Us

Staff

Huskies humbled
Torrid Terrier triumph brings Beanpot back

By Brian Fitzgerald

It was the best of games for the Terriers as they jumped to a 2-0 lead in the Beanpot championship game against Northeastern February 11. It was also the worst of games for Boston University in the latter half of the second period, when it surrendered three unanswered goals, trailing the Huskies, 3-2, going into the final stanza.

The Terriers celebrate their 2002 Beanpot championship, BU's 24th in the 50-year history of the tournament. Photo by Vernon Doucette

But BU's winter of despair turned into a spring of hope when captain Mike Pandolfo (MET'03) scored the tying goal early in the third period. As the clock wound down, the game looked like it was destined to be settled in overtime. However, Justin Maiser (CGS'03) earned tournament MVP honors with the winning goal -- his second of the game -- with just 1:12 to play in the third period. Then Jack Baker (CAS'05) put the exclamation point on the story with three seconds left, scoring the Terriers' fifth goal and ensuring BU's seventh Beanpot title in the past eight years.

"It was almost a tale of two games," says BU coach Jack Parker. "I thought that in the first 30 minutes we put on a really good clinic out there." The Terriers outshot Northeastern, 14-7, in the first period, getting a goal from Maiser. Carrying their momentum into the second, BU threatened to run away with the game when Ryan Whitney (CAS'05) scored at the 4:47 mark.

Northeastern, however, showed BU how quickly momentum can change in hockey. The Huskies hung in there in the first as the Terriers continuously peppered goaltender Ken Gibson, to come away with only two goals. Without a superb performance from Gibson, the BU celebration would have started early. "The shots were 14-7 after one period, and they were 14 good shots, too," says NU coach Bruce Crowder. "We could have been down, one, two, three, four to nothing." Parker, also noting the blizzard of BU shots that Gibson turned away, could only wonder what kind of lead his team might have enjoyed. "I thought that we could have had a bunch of goals," he says, "but we didn't."

	Captain Mike Pandolfo (MET'03), determined to bring the Beanpot trophy back to BU, contributed a goal in the title game against Northeastern. Photo by Luke Hartig (CAS'02)

When a team fails to capitalize on opportunities, sometimes an emboldened opposition says, "Now it's our turn." Add a couple of BU penalties, which Northeastern forward Chris Lynch took advantage of by scoring two power play goals, and the game was tied. The tables were turned quickly: Lynch's goals were just 1:28 apart. After Northeastern defenseman Jim Fahey closed out the second period by scoring a goal with 10 seconds left, NU had the lead. At that point Parker feared the worst. It was the 100th point of Fahey's career -- he's tops in the country among defensemen -- and he was hungry for more. "When Fahey scored that goal, I thought that he was going to beat us himself," says Parker. "He's such a great player. It really deflated us."

If that late development hadn't boosted the Huskies' spirits enough, an ill-advised, frustration-fueled boarding penalty by Pandolfo as time ran out gave them a power play to start the third period. But this time BU stonewalled the power play -- despite allowing two shorthanded goals, the Terriers are eighth in the country in penalty killing -- and then Pandolfo redeemed himself with a goal 1:54 later to tie it. With four goals in four games against the Huskies this year, Pandolfo has been rising to the occasion against Northeastern. Still, his team-leading 18th goal was unexpected. Defenseman Bryan Miller (CAS'05) fired the puck to the boards at the left of the goal, and a strange bounce presented Pandolfo with an early Valentine's Day present. Was the carom a designed play, or was Miller simply trying to dump the puck behind the goal? It didn't matter to Pandolfo -- he cut to the goal. "I started skating as fast as I could," he says.

"I saw the puck come off the boards and bounce. The goalie pulled off to the post, and I was able to beat him." The goals by Maiser and Baker shut the door on Northeastern for good.

With a 5-3 victory over Northeastern in the Beanpot championship game, BU earned its seventh Beanpot title in the past eight years. Photo by Luke Hartig (CAS'02)

"This thing's pretty heavy," said an exhausted Pandolfo as he struggled to bring the Beanpot trophy into the FleetCenter interview room with one hand, a water bottle occupying the other. Still, his guilt would have weighed even heavier if Northeastern had scored while he pined away in the sin bin. "We kind of fell back on our heels, and then I took a stupid penalty," he says. "We were fortunate enough to kill it. That was the most nervous I have ever been in the penalty box in my life."

Pandolfo didn't want to let go of the trophy. Somehow, when BU won in 1999 and 2000, he never got to touch it during the celebrations. This year he was able not only to parade it around the FleetCenter, but also to bring it into the locker room. If he had had his way, he probably would have brought the trophy to his classes the following day. "I came in here to play in my last Beanpot as a senior," he says. "It was important to get the win tonight."

15 February 2002
Boston University
Office of University Relations