BOSTON — The clock read 2:26 remaining in the first period, and the Eagles were celebrating what seemed to be their third goal of the game. Alex Carpenter’s shot had slid past Northeastern University goaltender Brittany Bugalski, appearing to bolster the lead to 3-0. The official waved the goal off. Further review of the play confirmed that a whistle had been blown before Carpenter’s shot. The game resumed with its 2-0 score.
Carpenter’s disallowed goal didn’t matter in the end for Boston College women’s hockey (30-0-0, 20-0-0 Hockey East). The Eagles added five goals in the third frame to cushion their lead against Northeastern (25-5-1, 19-2-0), finishing with a 7-0 score to claim their sixth Beanpot final victory in program history and secure a BC Beanpot sweep one day after Jerry York’s squad won the men’s title.
BC’s first goal came less than three minutes into the first period and less than 20 seconds into the game’s first power play. Haley Skarupa’s shot—assisted by Megan Keller and Makenna Newkirk—sailed past Bugalski to give BC the early lead. A little more than 10 minutes later, Newkirk added a goal of her own, assisted by Dana Trivigno. After Carpenter’s disallowed goal, the first frame ended at 2-0, with BC taking an early lead.
The score would stay that way throughout the second period, despite the Eagles’ and Huskies’ best opportunities. Both Bugalski and BC netminder Katie Burt made excellent saves to preserve the score at 2-0. Burt came up big after Keller was whistled for back-to-back body checking penalties, giving the Huskies a four-minute advantage. She faced seven shots on target in the period, often when her team was playing shorthanded, and saved each and every one to preserve her shutout and maintain the lead. Her strong second-period play prevented any Northeastern attempt at a comeback. In the postgame conference, Northeastern head coach Dave Flint and BC head coach Katie Crowley praised the sophomore netminder’s performance.
“She made a couple big saves when it was 2-0,” Flint said. “It felt like maybe if one of those had stuck in the net, it would’ve changed the complexion of the game.”
Crowley agreed that Burt’s play set the tone for the team in the second period.
“We got into a little penalty trouble in that second period,” she said. “Obviously Katie’s play was unbelievable.”
In the third period, a flurry of goals took the game officially out of reach for the Huskies. Trivigno started the attack with her first goal of the game. Kenzie Kent added another minutes later. Trivigno then scored the next two goals of the game to complete her hat trick. With just a few minutes remaining in the game, Keller scored her second goal of the game to bring the score to 7-0 in BC’s favor.
After the game, Flint said that the goal explosion sent his team reeling.
“When they came on in the third and they got a couple quick ones, I felt like for the first time this year we gave up,” he said. “Credit to BC, they smelled blood in the water.”
In a postgame ceremony, Trivigno and Burt were awarded the Most Valuable Player and Bertagna Awards, respectively, for the Beanpot tournament. The Bertagna Award is given to the tournament’s best goalie, regardless of stats. Burt won after saving all 22 shots on goal from Northeastern. Both athletes credited their teammates in the postgame press conference.
“I have to put a lot of the credit on my linemates,” Trivigno said. “They worked really hard to either get me the puck or get shots to the net and create rebounds for me.”
Burt also deflected praise onto her teammates. “It’s definitely an honor [to win the Bertagna Award], there’s four great goalies in the whole tournament,” she said. “But I definitely wouldn’t be where I am without my defense.”
Burt won the tournament’s highest honor for goaltenders, but her Northeastern counterpart also recorded very strong stats. Bugalski saved 42 shots on target out of the Eagles’ total tally of 49. Throughout the three periods, BC had 89 shots.
The Eagles came out of the second intermission fired up and ready to compete, and it showed. They completely dominated the Huskies for the final 20 minutes, and their five goals pushed the game from a close one to a blowout. In the postgame conference, Trivigno was asked about Crowley’s intermission words of wisdom that inspired the team to come out ready for blood.
“Let’s go win a Beanpot,” Trivigno said.
Featured Image by Amelie Trieu / Heights Editor
