February 13, 2006
Beanpot Finals
MacArthur Parks It
Tournament MVP calls his shot in Terriers' win
By Jeff Howe
Boston University 3 ,
Boston College 2 |
| Team |
Goal |
Str |
| Time |
Assists |
| First Period |
| 1-BC |
Peter Harrold (6) |
PP |
| 17:28 |
C. Collins, B. Boyle |
Second Period |
| 1-BU |
Bryan Ewing (8) |
EV |
| 4:07 |
P. MacArthur |
| 2-BU |
Jason Lawrence (8) |
EV |
| 9:52 |
B. Yip, C. Higgins |
| Third Period |
| 2-BC |
Stephen Gionta (9) |
EV |
| 6:24 |
B. Boyle |
| 3-BU |
Peter MacArthur (12) |
EN |
| 7:18 |
B. Ewing, S. Sullivan |
| Goaltending |
| BC: Cory Schneider, 58:45, 33 saves, 3 GA |
| BU: John Curry, 60:00, 18 saves, 2 GA |
| Penalties: BC 5/10; BU 4/8 |
| Power Plays: BC 1-4; BU 1-5 |
| Attendance: 17,565 |
BOSTON – Peter MacArthur kicked his night off by pulling out a move that he thought might get him benched, and he ended it by calling his shot and taking a Ruthian hack at the puck to launch the Beanpot celebration party.
His contributions – like his happy-go-lucky personality – weren’t exactly orthodox, but that was just how things worked on Monday night when Boston University outlasted Boston College, 3-2, in front of another sellout crowd of 17,565 at the TD Banknorth Garden.
MacArthur, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, made his biggest splash just 54 seconds after BC tied the game in the third period by driving home the winning goal. Bryan Ewing took a shot from the left point that hit BC goalie Cory Schneider in the chest and bounced up in the air in front of MacArthur, who was waiting just outside the crease. MacArthur then took a high – but legal – swipe at the puck and got enough of it to bat it into the back of the net.
“It was a broken play on the power play, and [Sean Sullivan] did a great job to keep the puck in at the blue line,” MacArthur said. “He played it to [Ewing], who got off a quick shot that Cory bobbled a little bit. I was in front of the net, where I don’t really go that much. I got lucky to bat it out of the air. I was fortunate to get a piece of it.”
Right after Stephen Gionta’s tying goal at the 6:24 mark of the final frame, MacArthur went over to Terrier goalie John Curry and told him to keep his head up.
“Pete came up to me, which he never does, and he says, ‘We’re going to score here.’ I was like, ‘OK, I’ll take it,’” Curry said. “Sure enough, he was really going for it. I couldn’t believe he was able to pull it off.”
As Curry was finishing his recollection of the events, BU coach Jack Parker sat back in his chair with a gleaming grin and asked MacArthur, “You didn’t point to center field, did you?”
“I was just saying stupid things again,” MacArthur laughed. “I guess I just say what comes to my mind, and that was the first thing that came to my mind. I just wanted to score right there and take the wind out of these guys after they tied it up.”
It proved to be a huge momentum killer for the Eagles, who never got back into a steady offensive rhythm once BU took its final lead of the night.
“The game is tied, and we’re coming off a lousy second period,” York said. “Then we took a lousy [Boyle contact to the head] penalty. That is a good way to hedge off the momentum. That’s for sure.”
“You couldn’t possibly overestimate the answer that Peter MacArthur had when they made it 2-2, and we came right back and scored,” Parker said. “All of a sudden they’ve got momentum, and they’re going pretty well, and bang; we get a power-play goal against a team that has been killing penalties great all year. That goal took the wind out of their sails. It brought us back to the top of our game and didn’t allow them to build any momentum. I thought that was huge.”
MacArthur first made airwaves when the Terriers were down 1-0 in the second period. He entered the Eagles’ zone along the right boards and appeared to be contained by Andrew Orpik until he made a nifty move and slid the puck through his legs to free up enough space to get off a wrist shot from the point. It deflected back to him off Schneider, and he let go of another wrister, which this time rebounded out to the slot where Ewing was waiting to bang it home.
“I tried to make a move, which Coach doesn’t really like us doing at the blue line so if I missed that, I probably would have been on the bench for the rest of the game,” MacArthur said. “I tried to make a move to the net and wasn’t able to finish it, but Ewing is a great goal scorer. He went to the net and finished it off. It was awesome; a great play.”
MacArthur added that he thought of freshman teammate Chris Higgins while the play was developing, hinting at a couple of Higgins’ acrobatic routines in the last week-and-a-half including his blockbuster move in the semifinal game against Harvard on the previous Monday night.
Parker, who has now won 51 Beanpot games and 19 tournament championships, commented on MacArthur’s quirky personality and work ethic.
“He is a guy who has confidence in himself,” Parker said. “He really enjoys playing. He really does enjoy getting out there and getting after it.”
TOBE OR NOT TO BE
Harvard 5,
Northeastern 0 |
| Team |
Goal |
Str |
| Time |
Assists |
| First Period |
| 1-H |
Ryan Maki (6) |
PP |
| 3:36 |
J. Pelle, B. McCafferty |
Second Period |
| 2-H |
Steve Rolecek (1) |
EV |
| 8:36 |
N. Coskren, J. Fraser |
| 3-H |
Nick Coskren (4) |
EV |
| 18:28 |
J. Fraser, S. Rolecek |
| 4-H |
Jon Pelle (7) |
EV |
| 19:09 |
D. Watters, P. Dufault |
| Third Period |
| 5-H |
Jon Pelle (8) |
PP |
| 11:33 |
R. Maki, B. McCafferty |
| Goaltending |
| H: Justin Tobe, 60:00, 24 saves, 0 GA |
| NU: A. Geragosian, 60:00, 36 saves, 5 GA |
| Penalties: H 6/12; NU 8/16 |
| Power Plays: H 2-8; NU 0-6 |
A Just a few hours before the game, Harvard junior goalie Justin Tobe got the word from Crimson coach Ted Donato that he would be making his first career Beanpot start. If he lost, it was only the consolation game, he was only the backup, and it was only his seventh career start in net. But there was only one thing: he didn’t care. He was there to play.
“It was just nice to play in any game, whether it was the Beanpot or a league game so whenever I’m called upon, it’s exciting,” Tobe said. “I was just happy to survive, and to get a win for the team is exciting as well.”
He managed to “survive” all 24 shots the Northeastern Huskies threw at him, and Harvard skated to a 5-0 laugher to give Donato his first career Beanpot win as coach.
“It is nice to get the monkey off his back as a coach,” Tobe said. “He works extremely hard for us. I don’t think there is a coaching staff who puts more into it than them so it’s good to get the win for them.”
Donato – who won the Beanpot as a Harvard player in 1989, 17 years ago to the day of Monday's match – wanted Tobe to be ready in case he decided to make the call to the bullpen for the consolation game because starter John Daigneau wasn’t completely healthy. Besides, the Crimson alum thought his backup deserved an opportunity after working so hard in practice. It turned out that the call came on Monday morning.
“The decision was for two reasons,” Donato said. “One, Justin has worked very hard in practice and looked particularly sharp. Two, John Daigneau is a little banged up and has played a lot of hockey. I don’t think he was 100 percent. It was an opportunity to give Justin a look, and I thought he responded superbly and played a big game for us.”
“Part of you feels like you’re just as good as the other guys,” Tobe said about his role as a backup. “But you just need to play with an even keel; not get too high with the highs or too low with the lows. I just know that I have to work hard in practice so I can get the chance to perform.”
Northeastern coach Greg Cronin admitted he didn’t know anything about Tobe, but he was at least able to look in-house for a scouting report. Assistant coach Gene Reilly served as a recruiting coordinator for the 2004 ECAC tournament champion Harvard squad so he knew a thing or two about the opposing netminder.
“I didn’t know anything about [Tobe],” Cronin said. “I asked Gene Reilly about him, and he said he was the type of goalie who liked to get out and challenge the shooter. He is very aggressive, and I thought he got out of his net and challenged people a lot. When goalies come out of the net and challenge, they don’t need to make that many acrobatic saves. He had a pretty good game.”
Following the action, Tobe was more pleased with how important the win was for his team than he was with his individual accolades.
“A shutout is nice and exciting, but...to get the win is the biggest thing right now,” Tobe said. “We’re looking to get into the ECAC and NCAA tournaments.”
INCH's Three Stars of the Night |
|
3. Justin Tobe, Harvard
Registered the first tournament shutout since BC’s Matti Kaltiainen blanked Harvard in the 2002 consolation game.
2. Bryan Ewing, Boston U.
His first goal rejuvenated the BU faithful and team alike.
1. Peter MacArthur, Boston U.
He stole the show. Simple as that. |
SEEN AND HEARD AT TD BANKNORTH GARDEN
• There wasn’t a whole lot to be seen or heard at the start of the consolation game whether you were watching at home or at the rink because, well, you couldn’t watch from home since the first game wasn’t on television, and if you were at the rink, odds are you were playing in the game.
• Northeastern goalie Adam Geragosian was forced to be at the top of his game early on in the first period, as the Huskies were outshot 19-1 during the game’s first 10 minutes. His best save came when Harvard was ahead 1-0 and threatening on a five-on-three at the 9:57 mark. Alex Meintel had a good bid from the back door, but Geragosian – while on the seat of his pants – reached behind his back and scooped up the puck just as it was about to cross the goal line.
• Harvard freshman Steve Rolecek celebrated his 20th birthday by scoring his first collegiate goal in the second period. Nick Coskren’s pass from the right side bounced off of Rolecek, who was being held at the far post by Northeastern defenseman Brian Deeth. The puck bounced off Rolecek and rolled past Geragosian to give the Crimson a 2-0 lead.
• The Huskies, already the most penalized team in Hockey East, gave Harvard an unnecessary 20-second man-advantage in the first period when they couldn’t figure out that they only had four skaters on the ice.
• The Northeastern pep band got an unexpected rise out of the abbreviated Boston University student section during the second period of the consolation game, playing the tune to one of BU’s favorite songs, “Eat ‘Em Up.”
I•t only took about 30 seconds for the first pair of players to get into it during the championship game between the two biggest rivals in college hockey. BU's Brad Zancanaro – all of 5-foot-5, 170 pounds – got involved in a brief shoving match with BC’s Brian Boyle, who stands at 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds.
• As the clock was running out in the first period, BC's Chris Collins got tripped up by the Terriers' Dan Spang. Spang fell on Collins and kneed him in the face, which provoked more chippy play throughout the night.
• Brian Boyle was shaping up to be one of the heroes of the night with his pair of assists, including the one that set up the second goal of the night, which came on a spectacular pass to Stephen Gionta in the low slot. But he was penalized just 23 seconds after the tying goal, and BU scored the game-winner 31 seconds after that.
• Boston College's Cory Schneider won the Eberly Trophy as the goaltender who played in the most games and had the tournament’s highest save percentage of .924. 
