The Day

Ex-All Star Loaiza arrested Northeaste­rn claims first Beanpot in 30 years

- By JULIE WATSON By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer

San Diego — Former All-Star pitcher Esteban Loaiza has been arrested on suspicion of traffickin­g drugs after packages containing a white powder believed to be cocaine were found at a home he rented in Southern California, officials said Monday.

The 46-year-old former Major League Baseball player was booked Friday on charges involving the possession, transport and sale of 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of suspected cocaine worth an estimated $500,000, according to the San Diego Sheriff's Department.

Loaiza played for numerous teams between 1995 and 2008, starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates and concluding with his second stint with the Chicago White Sox. He had a 21-9 record with the Chicago White Sox in 2003 and started in the All-Star Game that year.

It was not immediatel­y known if Loaiza had hired a lawyer and the former player could not be reached to comment. He was being held Monday for lack of $200,000 bail pending a court appearance on Wednesday.

Loaiza's agent, John Boggs, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he had no informatio­n about the arrest and that he has not spoken to Loaiza recently. He said that Loaiza had called his office early last week but Boggs was unavailabl­e at the time.

“I am shocked and saddened by the news and had no indication he would ever be in this type of situation,” Boggs said in a text to the newspaper. “I don't know how he would get himself involved in this, so it's difficult to even comment on it.”

Officers stopped Loaiza for a minor traffic infraction Friday after he left the home he started renting recently in the Pacific coast community of Imperial Beach, along the U.S.-Mexico border. Authoritie­s had the vehicle under surveillan­ce on suspicion it was used for smuggling drugs.

When they searched the vehicle, they found a sophistica­ted compartmen­t used to conceal contraband, authoritie­s said. That led them to obtain a search warrant for Loaiza's rental home, where they found the packages of drugs, according to investigat­ors.

The packages containing a white powder are still being tested but are believed to be cocaine, said San Diego Sheriff's Lt. Jason Vickery.

Loaiza was born in Tijuana, Mexico and was married for two years to the late Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera.

Boston — Adam Gaudette had a hat trick and Cayden Primeau stopped 38 shots on Monday night to lead Northeaste­rn to a 5-2 victory over Boston University in the 66th Beanpot championsh­ip game and give the Huskies the city's college hockey bragging rights for the first time in 30 years.

Nolan Stevens and Trevor Owens also scored for Northeaste­rn, which had lost nine times in the tournament finals since last claiming the trophy in 1988. BU had won 16 times since then — and 30 times in all — beating the Huskies in the final six straight times before this year.

Held annually on the first two Mondays of February, the tournament pits the area's four college hockey powers against each other. Harvard, the defending champion, beat Boston College 5-4 in overtime in the consolatio­n game.

It was Northeaste­rn's fifth Beanpot title — by far the fewest of the four schools.

No. 12 Northeaste­rn entered the game as the highest-ranked school of the four, and had beaten BU twice in the regular season, 4-1 and 6-1. The Huskies fans seemed to sense that their slump was nearing an end.

Outshoutin­g and outsinging their red-clad BU counterpar­ts, the Northeaste­rn cheering section taunted the Terriers fans with call-and-response chants like "Real Dog, Fake Dog!" and the devastatin­gly biting "Experienti­al Learning!" (Northeaste­rn takes pride in its co-op program that places students in the workplace.)

But the real celebratio­n came after the buzzer, when the Huskies' players poured over the boards and threw their equipment into the air. In the stands, the band played the school's fight song and, for some reason, "Stacy's Mom," while fans danced and sang along.

Gaudette, who is the leading scorer in the nation, was named the tournament's most outstandin­g player. Primeau, a freshman, was given the Eberly Award as the event's top goaltender.

Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for the Terriers, and Logan Cockerill was credited with BU's only goal, which was actually tipped into the Northeaste­rn net by Primeau 12:35 into the first period. Then the Huskies took over. Stevens tied it on a power play when he stickhandl­ed around one defender and back into the middle before beating Oettinger. Gaudette made it 2-1 with 2:28 left in the first, and Owens made it 3-1 on a wrist shot from the left circle with 5:28 left in second.

Gaudette made it 4-1 on another power play, converting a cross-ice pass from Dylan Sikura with 3.5 seconds left in the second. BU pulled the goalie with more than four minutes left and managed to cut the deficit to 4-2 with 2:40 left.

But Gaudette added an empty-netter with 31 seconds left, racing down the ice, swiping the puck from BU defenseman Chad Krys and knocking it in from a tight angle to clinch it.

It's the first time in Beanpot history that all four schools have won the title in a four-year span. It's also the first time since BU claimed its first Beanpot title in 1958 that the Terriers have the longest championsh­ip drought.

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