Moment #4 of 2021: Drew Helleson’s buzzer beater beats BU in overtime

We’re counting down the top 11 BC sports moments of the year, continuing today with #5. To catch you up:

#11: MBB win over Notre Dame on Senior Day under interim coach Scott Spinelli
#10: Men’s hockey’s first game with fans since March 2020 is a sellout win
#9: MBB wins in Earl Grant’s ACC opener
#8: Phil Jurkovec’s surprise return sparks football to win over VT
#7: Lacrosse makes the Final Four
#6: Fans return to Alumni Stadium for BC football’s win over Colgate
#5: BC baseball completes an insane, historic comeback to beat Auburn

And today, #4: Drew Helleson’s buzzer beater boosts BC men’s hockey to an overtime win over BU.

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Sports without fans last year didn’t hit the same, and there was a certain energy lacking from even the biggest games. In part due to this, there frankly weren’t many moments over the course of 2020-21 where I thought “damn, I wish that could have happened in front of a home crowd.”

But there’s one big exception to that: Drew Helleson’s overtime, buzzer beating goal to beat BU with less than 2 seconds left in the Battle of Comm Ave back in January. Every time I see that highlight, I can’t help but think that if it was played in front of a full house per usual, the eruption and noise that would have followed would have instantly made it an all-time BC-BU rivalry moment.

Because it was played in front of cardboard cutouts, it won’t be remembered quite as vividly. But it was a truly special moment, by a player blossoming into a star on the Heights. Enjoy the move and the finish in all its glory:

Even without a crowd, it was a classic BC-BU game, with lots of back and forth leading up to this moment; BC struck first, then fell behind 2-1. They took a 3-2 lead heading into the third period before BU notched a power play goal to tie things up. Just classic BC-BU things.

Then we had 3-on-3 OT, which reportedly has proven to be a bit of a disappointment nationally in terms of the amount of excitement and tiebreaks generated by it... but that certainly hasn’t been the case when BC and BU have gotten together, as both this OT and the 3-on-3 OT at Agganis in November were instant classics.

This is a moment that deserves its due as a thrilling all-time moment in BC hockey history - even if no fans were there to see it.