It's 4 of a kind with Harvard aced out

By Joe Concannon, Globe Staff, 02/10/1998

They finally could hoist the Beanpot, skate it around the FleetCenter ice, and show the world they had accomplished something very special. For the six senior members of Boston University's hockey team, this was a historic moment to seize and treasure.

They'd just beaten a gritty Harvard team, 2-1, in overtime in last night's 46th rendition of Boston's parochial midwinter sporting event to win the Beanpot for the fourth consecutive time. No class had ever done this before. It was their time to shine, and they did.

Given all they could handle by an unheralded Crimson team that wasn't given much of a chance before the tournament, the Terriers won it on a power-play goal by Nick Gillis at 5:51 of overtime. Gillis ended an emotionally draining game that saw the Crimson storm back to create a 1-1 tie on freshman Harry Schwefel's goal with 6:47 left in regulation.

On the night when the six seniors wrote a dramatic chapter, it was two freshmen who scored the biggest goals of the night.

And it was a night when BU defenseman Tom Poti showed flashes of greatness.

It was Poti, a towering sophomore out of Worcester and Cushing Academy, who set up the first goal, by Chris Drury at 9:16 of the second, with a magnificent rush the length of the rink. In overtime, it was Poti who kept the puck in the zone on the fateful power play and fired it in to Gillis, who put it in the net.

"When they couldn't clear,'' said Gillis, "it went out to Poti. I saw him walk in the middle and I just tried to get in front of the net for a screen or a tip and I just tipped it in there.''

The Terriers poured onto the ice, and Gillis had become a part of Beanpot lore.

This was a rousing game at the Beanpot summit. The Terriers (20-4-2) had to pull out all the stops to win their seventh Beanpot of the decade, their ninth in the last 13 years, and their 21st overall. This also marked their ninth consecutive 20-win season, and they should receive an NCAA bid for the ninth straight season.

The penalty that did in Harvard (8-11-2) was a holding call on Brett Chodorow at 5:28.

"The officials have the most difficult job out there,'' said Crimson coach Ronn Tomassoni. "He did the best job he could. An official did not win or lose this hockey game. It happens. It's tough in an overtime championship game, but he saw an infraction and that's his job.

"We felt great going into overtime.''

J.R. Prestifilippo, the Crimson's rising sophomore goaltender who came down with mononucleosis late in December and only returned to the ice last Friday night, came up big with 34 saves against the firepower of the Terriers.

The teams left the ice scoreless after the first period, but Drury soon forged a 1-0 lead. The play was started in motion by Chris Kelleher, and Poti did the work up the left wing.

"I had a lot of open room to skate it up,'' said Poti. "I just beat the defenseman wide, and I saw Drury cut to the net. I supplied it to him, and he put it in. No problem.''

The Crimson kept coming, seemingly getting stronger as the game wore, on much as they did a week ago in a 5-4 overtime victory over Boston College. After Steve Moore failed on a couple of rebound opportunities, Schwefel tied it as Brice Conklin carried the puck into the zone, hesitated for position just inside the blue line, and then fed it to the freshman in the middle. Schwefel unloaded a bomb that went past senior goaltender Tom Noble, who is sitting on top of the world today with a 15-2 career record in championship games.

After Noble came up with his 17th and final save on Mark Moore's bid, Chodorow was penalized and the Terriers went to work on the power play. Poti kept the puck in the zone, saw Gillis break to the net, and led him to the winning goal.

"The puck just came to me at the blue line,'' said Poti. "I made one fake to the guy who was coming out on me, and he kind of took it a little bit. I went to my backhand, and I saw him in front. I passed to him, and he put it home.''

For Jack Parker, who underwent heart surgery two weeks ago, his Beanpot record is now 37-13 in 25 seasons.

"I'm so happy for the seniors,'' said Parker, who broke the goaltending rotation with Michel Larocque so Noble could join his classmates for this game.

The seniors are Drury, Kelleher, Noble, Mike Sylvia, Jeff Kealty, and Peter Donatelli.

Before the overtime, Parker addressed the team.

"I just told them, `We're playing well. This is a great college hockey game. You ought to be proud of how you're playing. They're a worthy opponent and we'll see what happens in the overtime.' ''