Game One: Northeastern vs. Harvard 5pm
The early game pits two of the less-storied Beanpot entries, as Harvard and Northeastern have won 14 titles combined, one less than BC has alone. This should be a hard-fought game, as both of these guys are almost never in the finals, so any chance to get to the late game next week is taken very seriously.
Northeastern has been hot of late, winning or tying every game they played up until last Fridays setback to Merrimack in OT, including a 3-0 victory over Harvard on January 19th. The Huskies hang their hats on solid goaltending from their sophomore goalie Chris Rawlings and their senior leadership in forwards Tyler McNeely and Wade MacLeod. MacLeod has scored 13 goals this season, leading the team and putting him in the top 10 in Hockey East. Defensively, NU has a plus 3 goal differentia, and they can be a force to be reckoned with in this tournament. They played BC tough early on this year in October, and even though they own a 1-2 record against Beanpot teams, the Huskies lost both of those games by close margins.
Harvard comes into this tournament on a two game skid, dropping their last two to Ivy rivals Cornell (2-1) and Yale (1-0). But some good things can be taken from those games, based on the fact that both games were hard fought contests and they only yielded one goal to the top offense in the nation, Yale. Offensively, Harvard struggles to score, netting an average of 1.8 goals a game. Lead by the Biega brothers (Michael and Danny), the Crimson offense has been anything but dominant. Defensively, they are surrendering 3 goals a game, with senior Kyle Richter taking up most of the time between the pipes.
The Huskies are going to try to impose their will on the Crimson in this one. Their top line will put plenty of pressure on a Harvard defensive unit that is frankly not that good. The only way Harvard has a shot in this is if they get some lucky breaks and score some goals on the power play, but even that has not been great for the Crimson this year. It won't be a bloodbath, but I've got NU moving on for a shot to end their schneid in the Beanpot.
Prediction: Northeastern 3 Harvard 1
Game Two: Boston College vs Boston University 8pm
These two schools have won the last 17 titles between them, with the vast, vast majority of those wins coming from the downtown end of Comm Ave. BC has had the upper hand of late, winning 2 of the last 3. BC also swept the season series from BU this year, winning two of the three on the road. The Eagles are also the defending champions, having beaten the Terriers in a thriller last year.
Boston College, fresh off the programs fourth national championship, enters the tournament as the on-paper favorite. They are the #1 team in the nation, according to both major polls, and they sit atop Hockey East as well. They boast one of the top goal scorers on the country in Cam Atkinson. They can score goals... alot of goals. But BC has weaknesses, and if there is one team in the country that knows how to push their buttons, its BU.
Boston University is Beanpot royalty. They have won 29 of the 59 tournaments. They get up for this more than any other school. Some may even say this is their national championship, so to speak. Whatever the case, they know how to win this thing. The Terriers have been pretty hot lately, grabbing three of four points from Maine in Orono two weeks ago and a beating down on UMass Lowell last Friday. Kieran Milan is playing well for them in nets, and he'll have to be on his game against a tough BC attack.
BU is going to try to force BC to play their style: physical, punch you in the mouth hockey. BC will need to out-finesse the Terriers or they will be forced to play a style they don't like. The Terriers are built to beat one team and one team only - BC. They have the horses and the memories of three tough losses this year to fuel their fire..... Only I just don't think that will be enough. If BC gets out to an early lead, and avoids the penalty box (tough to do against BU), then they win going away. If BU forces BC to take stupid penalties, they can keep it tight with goals on the man advantage. I see a nailbiter.... par for the course with these two clubs
Prediction: BC 4 BU 3 (2OT)
No comments:
Post a Comment