Wilmer Skoog lifts Boston University to double-OT Beanpot win over Boston College
The Terriers earned their 54th appearance in the Beanpot championship.
A couple of midseason additions paid dividends for Boston University in the first round of the Beanpot on Monday night at TD Garden.
Wilmer Skoog’s putback got past Boston College goalie Spencer Knight and gave the Terriers a dramatic 5-4 overtime win. BU goalie Ashton Abel recorded 37 saves for the win.
Both Skoog and Abel joined the Terriers after the holiday break.
“That was just an awesome feeling. It’s the biggest game I’ve ever played,’’ said Skoog, a freshman who spent the first half of the season playing in the North American League before making his BU debut on Jan. 8 against Brown.
The Terriers (10-8-7) earned their 54th appearance in the Beanpot championship Feb. 10 at TD Garden, where they will face Northeastern, a 3-1 winner over Harvard earlier in the night.
The game turned in the third period as BU was trailing, 3-1, and trying to kill a penalty. That’s when BC’s Luke McInnis was called for interference with 7:32 remaining. With the teams skating 4 on 4, Patrick Harper took the puck to the net but was denied. David Farrance broke through and knocked in the rebound in with 7:24 left, allowing BU, since the goal came with the teams at even strength, to go on the power play when their own penalty expired.
Farrance and Harper connected 70 seconds later. This time it was Farrance setting up Harper, taking the puck behind the net and flipping it out front, where Harper gained control and sent a wrister over Knight’s glove to even the score at 3-3 with 6:14 remaining.
After managing just one goal on 16 shots through the first two periods, a few BU seniors addressed the team before taking the ice for the third.
“After the first and second periods, we didn’t have too much going on,’’ said Harper. “We sort of spoke to the group between the second and third. We just spoke about resiliency and doing it for the guys who don’t have another Beanpot left.’’
Freshman Robert Mastrosimone gave the Terriers a 4-3 lead with 1:42 to go when Trevor Zegras fired a cross-ice pass from the deep right and Mastrosimone one-timed it past Knight (27 saves) for the lead.
The Eagles answered with 57.9 seconds left, pulling Knight while on the power play for a 6-on-4 advantage. Senior David Cotton did the honors, when his pass deflected off Alex Newhook’s skate and back to himself, where he beat Abel to send the game to overtime.
BC’s fourth line got the Eagles on the board first when Zach Walker dumped the puck into the BU zone. Sophomore Marc McLaughlin skated it behind the net, then fired it behind his back to a cutting Patrick Giles, who beat Abel just 2:15 into the game.
The lead would grow to 2-0 when the Eagles went on the power play after Farrance was called for tripping. Just 12 seconds into the man advantage, freshman Matt Boldy found Newhook alone to the right of Abel, and he was able to beat the BU netminder shortside with 12:41 left in the first period.
It did not take the Terriers long to respond, aided by BC forward Logan Hutsko’s penalty for high sticking. The Terriers cashed in on their only power play of the first period when Logan Cockerill skated from the left and fired a pass across the front of the net to Patrick Curry to pull BU to within 2-1 with 10:47 remaining.
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