You can't even put the trophy in the oven and bake beans in it. If you venture past Route 495, people think you're talking about some quaint dinner from the 18th century. There are more significant championships than this one, Boston College coach Jerry York was saying. But if you haven't won the Beanpot very often and you live here, it's the holy grail.
The Eagles have a bigger title to play for - the national crown that has eluded them the past two years. But once Harvard came from two goals down to force overtime in the Garden last night, this one was the only one that mattered.
"We got together in the locker room, went shoulder to shoulder and said, 'We're going to come out on top,' " said captain Mike Brennan, after Nick Petrecki's swat-and-hope goal had beaten the resurgent Crimson, 6-5, in the most entertaining Beanpot final in years.
If BC won this neighborhood brawl more years than not, it might not have mattered so much. But the Eagles had prevailed only three times since 1983 and the seniors never had won it. Second in the country twice in a row, second in Boston twice in a row, both times to archrival Boston University.
"Those two games were a hard pill to swallow," allowed Brennan. "But we did a good job as a senior class to put them behind us and go forward."
Beating BU in overtime on opening night was heartening, but it only would have made it much more bitter if BC had lost last night. This is one they figured to win after blitzing Harvard, 7-2, in December. The Crimson hadn't won the trophy since 1993 and hadn't even played in a final in a decade.
Yet Harvard fought fiercely, as its fight song says, all night long, and played its best game of the season.
"This is the first time we've played in the late game in 10 years," observed cocaptain Dave MacDonald, whose team came in with a losing record. "We knew we had a chance to do something special."
What the Crimson had to do was what they hadn't done in their first meeting - stay out of the penalty box and keep Nathan Gerbe, BC's killer pest, off the board. Last night, they took one penalty and held Gerbe without a point. They also scored five goals, which usually is a week's worth for them.
Nobody saw that coming, or saw Harvard coming from two goals down with less than nine minutes to play.
"We just had kind of a feeling that we were going to stick with it to the very end," said cocaptain Mike Taylor, who scored the equalizer with 4:24 left in regulation. "It's the Beanpot."
A victory here would have made the Crimson's season and gotten them back into the local conversation. Winning a national title, which they've managed only once, is the longest of long shots.
But winning the Beanpot was within reach, so they played with desire and desperation against a BC team that has been on fire since the end of November.
"You've got to give unbelievable credit to Harvard," said York. "I thought we had it well under control, but they never gave up."
So the challenge was thrown back to BC. Were they going to slay the scarlet demon from the other end of Commonwealth Avenue and lose to the guys from across the river?
That was the question in the locker room as fresh ice was being made. Could the Eagles grab this one back?
"We had to make a show of resiliency to come back in overtime," said York. "We really played to win the game and win the trophy."
The Eagles owned overtime, holding Harvard without a shot while putting seven on goalie Kyle Richter. All game long, they scored by crashing the net and jamming pucks through a scrum. Why not try once more?
So Petrecki, who hadn't scored all season until last night, saw the puck lying loose on the doorstep and made his move.
"I took a swing at it and closed my eyes," he said, "and luckily it went in."
Immediately, a swarm of white jerseys came over the dasher, running, diving, sliding in celebration. It wasn't a national title, but if you're a BC alum with a BU neighbor, it was delicious and long deferred.
This was about validation. The Eagles have been the best team in Boston for two years-plus, but until last night they didn't have a piece of hardware that said so.
Now they do, and Brennan was hoisting it gleefully last night. But there still are a couple of more to get. There will be a Hockey East trophy up for grabs at the Garden next month and the NCAA crown in Denver in April. This one was for bragging rights.
"We want to win this," Jerry York was saying, "but we've got bigger goals than the Beanpot."
John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com
