Positives Unfortunately Don't Add Up

Prior to the 66^th annual Beanpot Tournament, head coach Jerry York stated, "You don't win the trophy on the first Monday, but you have to play well to give yourself a chance the next week."

In the semifinal matchup versus Northeastern on Monday, the BC men's hockey team hit on many of the pregame objectives that the group set out to accomplish, but not enough to give them that chance. And, for the second straight season, Boston College was relegated to the consolation game next week following a 3-0 loss to the Huskies.

"We accomplished a lot of the objectives we wanted before the game," York said. "We limited the number of power-play chances they had…that's their bread and butter. Our objective was to stay out of the penalty box. They just got one power-play goal off that."

The Eagles served only three penalties all night, allowing six shots, but Northeastern was able to capitalize on a little puck luck during a power play opportunity mid-way through the first period, providing what would prove to be the game-winning goal for the Huskies.

Boston College was provided four power-play opportunities of their own but did not see any of their nine shots on the man-advantage sneak by Northeastern goalie Cayden Primeau, who stopped 37 shots in total.

"I thought we had some really good chances. We had four power-play opportunities," York said. "(David) Cotton hit the crossbar that one time. Logan (Hutsko) had a real good chance that hit off Primeau's head on the side there. Our objectives were to try and score some power-play goals, which we failed on."

Another area that York pointed to as being a bit deficient on the night was his team's ability to create follow-up opportunities the plethora of shots thrown on net, including 29 over the final two periods of play.

"The objective is to get shots on goal, which we did," the Eagles coach noted. "The next objective is to get traffic in front for screens, deflections and some rebound opportunities…Not enough second-chance opportunities. We've got to be just more gritty in front of that blue paint area."

A wrong-way deflection here and a missed chance there can be all the difference in the Beanpot, and no one may be more aware of that than York, now in his 24^th February rodeo at the Garden.

While there were some practical applications of the game plan that were well executed, the coach is also well aware that the margin for victory at this time of year, in this heated tournament, is slim.

"There's not a heck of a lot of difference between winning and losing games," York said. "Tonight, Northeastern was a touch better because they capitalized."

"There's a lot of positives, but, the bottom line is we didn't win the game," the coach concluded. "Our objective was to come in and try to get to that final to play for the trophy and we failed to accomplish that. It's a tough pill for our coaching staff and the players. But we know to just get better and get ready for our next game."

The Eagles have a 7 p.m. faceoff against UMass-Lowell at Conte Forum on Friday before resuming he Beanpot against Harvard next Monday.

Boston College Athletics

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