The BC men may have crashed out in the Beanpot semifinals, but the BC women are alive and well and will be playing for their third consecutive Beanpot title tonight!
It’s a great setup for Eagles fans, as the four year campus-sites rotation of the tournament has Boston College hosting at Conte Forum tonight with a shot to win the trophy on home ice. The host has done exceptionally well in this tournament, with 5 of the last 8 home teams winning the trophy. Other than the last two tournaments which the Eagles won on the road, the only other team to win a road Beanpot in the last 8 tournaments was Northeastern at BU in 2012.
If the Eagles can extend that home-ice trend, that’ll make it 6 of the last 9 winners claiming the trophy in front of a friendly crowd.
The 40th Women’s Beanpot Championship
No. 20 Boston University Terriers (11-14-6, 6-11-5 WHEA)
vs. No. 2 Boston College Eagles (25-3-3, 17-2-3 WHEA)
February 13th, 2018, 7:30pm
How To Watch: ESPN3
Do not make the mistake of seeing BU’s 20th-place ranking and sub-.500 record and think BC is going to coast to victory. Consider:
- The Eagles just lost to New Hampshire this weeked, showing that even though BC is Hockey East’s only elite-tier program, they can still cough up a hairball every now and then.
- The Terriers are, frankly, Terrierfying (JOKES!) due to the fact that they have two of the most dangerous forwards in all of women’s hockey. Victoria Bach and Rebecca Leslie are 2nd and 4th in the nation in PPG (2.11 and 1.74, respectively), and how the Eagles handle the BU superstars will determine who wins this game.
- BU has already shown it can skate with BC this season, earning a 2-2 tie at Conte Forum on December 1st. The good news for the Eagles about the previous three matchups is that they’ve been able to keep Patty Kazmaier Award contender Victoria Bach in check, holding her to 0-4—4 in those three games. The bad news? Her linemate has gone ham on the Eagles with a monster 5-2—7 line in those same contests.
The Eagles can counter those arguments, though:
- BU probably isn’t thrilled that the Eagles are coming off a loss. As if playing for a trophy wasn’t enough of a reason for BC to get up for the game, the Eagles are also going to be playing angry. BC is 11-0-2 in their last 13 games following a loss. They haven’t lost consecutive games since the 2013-2014 season.
- BC sees your Bach and Leslie and will raise you a Daryl Watts and Caitrin Lonergan. As good as BU’s top two players are, BC’s are better. Forget Hockey East, Watts and Lonergan have been the two best players in all of women’s hockey this season, as the two have put up far and away the most points in the nation. Watts is sitting on an absurd 37-35—72 line in 31 games, with Lonergan not far behind at 27-38—65. And that’s not even to mention BC’s elite secondary scoring, with Toni Ann Miano the nation’s top scoring defenseman and Makenna Newkirk 6th in the nation in scoring herself.
- BU tied BC, but they haven’t shown they can beat the Eagles yet. There will be no ties tonight, as the Beanpot championship is settled with unlimited 20 minute periods until there’s a winner. The Terriers have one line that can score, but the Eagles have basically two top lines and a strong third energy line to go with them. If the game goes to extra time, look for BC’s depth to win out as the Bach/Leslie line runs out of gas.
Last Time Out
New Hampshire clogged things up and the Eagles couldn’t find a way through in a 2-1 loss to the Wildcats, just BC’s 3rd loss of the season.
Boston University took down Harvard 3-2 in the Beanpot semifinals last week, launching out to a 3-0 lead on the back of Victoria Bach’s 2 goals and an assist before letting the Crimson creep back into the game. Unlike the Eagles, BU did not play a game between Beanpot matchups.
Big Questions
Can the Eagles control Bach & Leslie? Can the Terriers control Watts & Lonergan? How many goals will Makenna Newkirk score while BU tries to throw all their attention on the Watts/Lonergan combination? Will Watts score an Ovechtrick? How many Watts = Electricity puns can I make in the post game recap? Can anyone out there believe that there’s just one more weekend left in the regular season?
Random, Possibly Incorrect Fact From Boston University’s Wikipedia Page
BU is actually an accredited university. Who knew?
Ice Cream of the Game
Apparently we’re doing “Ice Cream of the Game” this year? I don’t know, ask Bailin or Laura. I don’t make the rules.
Dole Whip
Dole Whips are kind of hard to find. Disney World has them in Adventureland, the Dole Plantation on Oahu has them, and the CY/NY grocery chain Stew Leonard’s sells them at the front of the store. I’m sure there are other places, but those are the only ones I’m aware of. Basically it’s pineapple soft serve, and it’s delicious. It goes down smooth and refreshing, just like a humiliating massacre of the Terriers.
Game Time Song of the Week
The Struts — “Kiss This”
I don’t like BU.
Final Prediction
Do you really think I’m going to pick against BC in this game?
Harvard very nearly pulled out the comeback win last week over the Terriers and did a really good job of shutting down the Bach/Leslie line after the first period. That’s going to be the whole story of the game, and if BC can do it, they’ll win handily — BU is a whopping 0-9-4 in games where Bach doesn’t score a goal.
I’m not going to go so far as to suggest that Bach will be kept off the scoresheet for a fourth time against the Eagles, but I do like BC to win. The Eagles are overdue for a good, strong win, and there will be no overlooking a trophy game or their cross-town rival. Give BC the win, 4-1, over the Terriers.