Huskies top Harvard in Beanpot semis
Empty-net goal seals 3-1 NU victory
A dream of a three-peat lives on for Northeastern, which outlasted ECAC entrant Harvard 3-1, in a fastplayed contest to open the 68th annual Beanpot Hockey Tournament at TD Garden Monday night.
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NU coach Jim Madigan went to the offseason trade/ waiver wire this summer and brought on board two NCAA graduate transfers in the persons of goalie Craig Pantano, who previously played at Merrimack, and Brendan van Riemsdyk, a former University of New Hampshire skater, and each played integral roles, with Bridgewater’s Pantano posting a game-high 27 saves in his ‘Pot debut while van Rimesdyk, the younger brother of NHL skaters James and Trevor, notched the eventual game-winner in the second period.
“This is a big emotional event for us and anytime you get a win in this venue, in this tournament, it’s a really great win,” said Madigan afterward. “That’s a good hockey club we just played and they really took it to us in the third period. … Goaltending was the difference in the game and we got great goaltending.”
It marks the third time that NU has played in three consecutive Beanpot titles games (1983-85 and 2013-2015) and Madigan has been part of all three, the first time as a player. It will be the first time NU has a chance to capture three straight mugs, however.
NU senior captain and Chicago Blackhawks draft pick Ryan Shea cemented the victory when he found the empty net with 51 seconds to play.
“I wasn’t really sure. I was kind of just shooting the puck out of the zone. (Matt) Filipe was in front of me and doing kind of a shoulder shake. But once it went in I knew that we were going to the Finals,” said Milton’s Shea. “I woke up this morning and I was nervous. It’s still the Beanpot. You never want to play in the consolation.”
Harvard (10-7-4), which held a 28-24 edge in shots, including a 2-to-1 margin in the third period when it outgunned the Huskies, 14-7, but couldn’t get on the board, left disappointed.
“Obviously, it was a hardfought game. Ultimately, they made one more play than we did. We had looks, the 5-on-3. We had some chances. Pantano made big saves for them in the second half of the game,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato.
Harvard and Northeastern were meeting in the tournament for the 45th time, with the Crimson now holding a narrow 24-21 advantage. The most recent ‘Pot clash came in the opening round in 2017 when Harvard grabbed a 4-3 victory en route to a championship win as then-freshman and current captain Nathan Krusko skated off with Most Valuable Player honors.
Harvard jumped out front with a power-play goal off the stick of sophomore center Jack Drury, the son (father, Ted, 1993) and nephew (uncle, Chris, 1996) of former Beanpot MVP performers from Harvard and BU, respectively. Ace junior defenseman Reilly Walsh, a draft pick of New Jersey, spotted Drury at the right edge of the crease and fed the puck ahead. Drury took possession, spun and roofed a shot into the far corner for his 14th goal at 5:17. It gave the talented center a team-best nine power-play goals. Drury had four points (2-2-4) in Friday’s 8-5 shoutout victory against host Union, combining with linemates Nick Abruzzese (2-2-4) and right wing Casey Dornbach (0-4-4) for 12 points.
Harvard’s fourth-line troika of Jack Donato, of Scituate, Baker Shore, and right wing Colton Kerfoot raised havoc around the crease area of Pantano.
NU evened matters with a power-play goal of its own at 12:20. Senior captain Ryan Shea of Milton snapped a wrist shot away that clever center Zach Solow tipped in front. The puck eluded Harvard freshman netminder Mitchell Gibson (21 saves) to hand Solow, the game-winning hero of Friday’s 4-3 win against Providence, his 11th goal.
NU went in front in the final minute of the middle frame. Right wing Grant Jozefek dug the puck from the corner and fed to the net-front where van Riemsdyk steered the pass into the back of the net at 19:30.
“You learn pretty quickly how special this (Beanpot) is once you step on the ice,” said van Riemsdyk.
Harvard enjoyed a 5-on-3 man advantage early in the third period but couldn’t capitalize. The penalty-kill effort rejuvenated NU.
“After the second period, we knew we had to make a push and we have the offensive players to do that,” said Harvard captain Krusko, the MVP of the 2017 ‘Pot. “It just took us a little too long to get into our game. Their goaltender played great. Sometimes games like this come down to inches and that was the difference.”
Harvard lifted its goalie for an extra skater in the final two minutes. NU freshman right win Matt DeMelis, of Hingham, missed the wide open net with a long backhand with 1:45 to play. Harvard pressed the attack but lost control in the NU zone. Shea took possession and lofted a long flip into the empty net with the insurance marker at 19:09.