The trap game: a matchup where the presumed-to-win team may not prepare thoroughly for its formidable opponent.
As the No. 1 team in the country, Boston College men’s hockey posted an emphatic win Monday night versus Northeastern in the Beanpot semifinal, and the title game has been calling its name all week.
But New Hampshire wasn’t going to let the Eagles get ahead of themselves.
BC (21–4–1, 13–3–1 Hockey East) has encountered the trap game before, dropping a 5–4 loss to unranked UConn coming off four straight top-15 victories.
“We talk about it, but more importantly, the leaders of the team—the older guys—talk about that,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “Every game is so important.”
The experience of losing to UConn may have helped the Eagles, though, as they fought their way to a 4–2 win versus the Wildcats (11–11–3, 3–10–2) on Friday night in Durham.
After a scoreless first period from both squads and UNH posting the first goal of the night late in the second, the game was set up to be gritty down the stretch.
“We weren’t at the top of our game, but we did a lot of the little things well enough to win,” Brown said. “It wasn’t—as some of the players said in the locker room—it wasn’t a 10, but you still have to find ways to win.”
UNH’s Cy LeClerc was left all alone to flash slick moves and work around Jacob Fowler for the backhand finish and a 1–0 lead 13:47 into the second frame.
Brown spoke on BC’s surrendering the game’s opening goal for the first time since its Dec. 6 matchup against UMass Lowell.
“They stayed the course, and we had a much better push after they scored to try and catch back up,” Brown said. “So there was no panic, even though it’s been a few games the guys were dialed in.”
As the closing minutes of the second frame neared, BC entered the penalty kill looking to avoid another Wildcats goal.
But Lukas Gustafsson and Gabe Perreault decided to flip the script with a short-handed goal.
Gustafsson fired a zone-to-zone pass for Perreault to get an open look. His bullet snuck over goaltender Jared Whale’s pad, and just like that, the game was knotted up.
The 1–1 score didn’t last long, though, as the Wildcats started the third period hot.
Ryan Conmy was fed in the slot for a sliding one-timer, sneaking it under Fowler just over two minutes into the final frame.
“We’ve come back enough this year that there wasn’t a letdown or a panic on the bench at all,” Brown said.
No panic, indeed.
Only 21 seconds later, Will Vote silenced the crowd with a rebound goal off his own shot from the point, evening the game again.
From there, the Eagles remained smooth sailing—thanks to luck being on their side.
After Whale left his crease to settle a careening puck, it snuck right out in front of the goal, wrapped with a bow, for Gentry Shamburger’s first goal of the season.
“The whole team was so excited to see him get rewarded with a goal,” Brown said. “Because I know how big a part of our team—off the ice, on the ice. He’s doing everything with the best intentions for the whole team.”
With 7:43 remaining in regulation, Mike Posma delivered the final punch with a rebound goal of his own to extend BC’s lead to 4–2.
“I think the older guys had reminded everybody to have focus tonight,” Brown said. “Make sure we put in a good enough effort to try and get the win, and they responded.”
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