Women Face No. 1 Harvard in Tonight’s Beanpot Final
Game begins at 8 at Walter Brown Arena
The Boston University women’s hockey team faces the top-rated team in the country tonight when it meets Harvard in the championship game of the Beanpot Tournament. The game, at BU’s Walter Brown Arena, is the second consecutive Beanpot final appearance for the Terriers and only the fourth final for the team since the women’s Beanpot began in 1979.
In the men’s competition last night, the Terriers beat Northeastern, 5 to 4, in the consolation game at the TD Banknorth Garden. Last Monday, a 4 to 3 loss to Boston College marked the first time since 1994 that the men’s team did not earn a spot in the Beanpot finals.
The women’s team earned its spot in the final with a 3-1 win over Boston College on February 5 at Walter Brown — a victory that broke a Terrier streak of 12 consecutive tournament losses to the Eagles. Cocaptain Gina Kearns (SAR’09) and Julie Poulin (CAS’08) each scored for BU, while Jonnie Bloemers (CGS’08) had her second game-winning goal against BC this season.
Kearns opened the scoring at 13:19 of the first period, as she received a crossing pass from Jillian Kirchner (SAR’11) and poked it into goal past the netminder. The game remained close through the first two periods, with Kearns’ goal the only one on the board entering the third.
However, a three-goal explosion in the third period — including two BU power-play goals — changed the complexion of the game. The Eagles evened the score with a goal from junior Meghan Fardelmann at 4:32 of the third period. Bloemers scored the game-winner at 8:18 of the third on the power play, as Poulin charged the goal, but dished a pass to Bloemers just in time. She wristed in a shot to give the Terriers the lead for good.
BU scored an insurance goal less than a minute later, as Poulin netted a score of her own at 9:02 of the third period, with assists from Amanda Shaw (SMG’09) and Kearns.
Harvard beat Northeastern, 3-1, in the last week’s first round. The Crimson last brought the Beanpot home in 2005, with a 6-1 win over BC; in 2007 the two teams met again in the final, with the Eagles winning, 2-0.
The championship game is at Walter Brown Arena at 8 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, February 12, with the consolation game, between Northeastern and Boston College, at 5 p.m. Tickets are free for students from participating schools, or can be purchased for $7, $3 for children under 18. The game will also be Webcast on B2 Networks, with live audio at www.wtburadio.org.
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