BOSTON — Deanpot this, Deanpot that—let’s not forget about James Hagens.

He’s certainly hard to forget, considering he’s right beside Dean Letourneau, leading the Eagles in points, and is the only other Boston College men’s hockey player named as a Hobey Baker nominee.

On one of the biggest stages in the Boston hockey world, the lights most definitely were not too bright for the Bruins’ first-round pick. 

Two first-period goals from Hagens lifted No. 11 BC (15–8–1, 10–5–0 Hockey East) past Harvard (12–9–1, 10–5–0 ECAC) in the Beanpot semifinal, sending the Eagles to the final next Monday against Boston University.

“It’s such a fun tournament—[The guys] understand, once they’re at school, very quickly, how important it is,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “It’s something you want to hang your hat on and get one, so our seniors are excited for it, and the whole team is excited.”

Hagens had two in the first frame alone, but he wasn’t the one to crack the dam. Just 3:10 into the opening frame, Drew Fortescue picked up a deflected pass from Aram Minnetian and fired home a shot from the top of the left circle to put the Eagles up 1–0.

The Crimson remained diligent despite the early setback, building shots on shots with each rebound Louka Cloutier kicked out.

What made it harder for Harvard to remain calm in a big game like this, though, was another two BC goals—both by the same player.

A little more than 10 minutes after Fortescue’s score, Oscar Hemming put a shot on net, and the puck found its way to Hagens, who slammed it home top right to double BC’s lead.

Then, 2:10 after the sophomore forward’s first score, Hemming set Hagens up for a 2-on-1, sending a backdoor feed for Hagens’ second goal of the period and a 3–0 BC lead. The goal was Andre Gasseau’s 100th career point, as he was credited with the secondary assist.

“It seems like whether [Hagens is] on or off, he’s still going to create chances for us, but it’s been more consistent of late,” Brown said. “He’s found a nice chemistry with Gasseau and Hemming, too, which certainly has helped in the last few games.”

The statsheet was further proof of the offensive-heavy opening frame at TD Garden, as both squads hit the locker room with Harvard leading with 18 shots to BC’s 16.

The Crimson converted to match its high volume of shots just 29 seconds into the second period, as Ryan Healey poked in a loose puck in front of the net to put Harvard on the board and cut the deficit to 3–1.

The second frame saw some 4-on-4 action after penalties were handed to Minnetian and Marek Hejduk. Open-ice movement and some light physicality occurred from there, but neither team could convert.

Monday night’s action was relatively light compared to BC’s Friday night win over BU, as the body contact and post-whistle scrums between the cross-town rivals were far more tame.

The Eagles added another goal on the power play with 21 seconds remaining in the second period, capping off a 21-shot frame. Hagens’ shot from the point was redirected by Letourneau in front of the net, giving each Bruins first-round pick a multi-point game in their second Beanpot semifinal.

Hagens has put up 10 points in his last five games, while Letourneau has had a point in nine of his last 11.

“I’m sure they want to do well here,” Brown said about the Bruins prospects. “They’ve been playing well for a while now, but of course, when they come here, hopefully to their future place of employment, they want to put a good step forward and do well.”

The Crimson failed to challenge Cloutier as much as they did during their 18-shot first period. Harvard dished out five shots on goal in the second, allowing BC to take complete control even after nearly swinging the momentum with its goal early in the second.

“They definitely had the momentum there,” Brown said about Harvard’s early goal. “But I do think the bench stayed positive and said, ‘Let’s get to our hockey,’ and the older guys especially recognized that we could still play better, even though it was a 3–0 period.”

Cloutier had one job in the third period, and he did it perfectly. The freshman goaltender delivered eight saves in the third en route to back-to-back 30-save, one-goal performances.

BC’s offense never took its foot off the gas in the third, as Hagens saw multiple chances to secure his second hat trick of the season. 

Healey got called for a 10-minute game misconduct in the final two minutes, putting Ben Charette back in net after having an empty net for a couple minutes beforehand. And just four seconds into BC’s power play, Lukas Gustafsson slapped a one-timer from a couple feet above the top of the circle to cap off BC’s 5–1 semifinal win.

“We did a better job—tighter defensively in the second and third,” Brown said. “Thought the third was our best, but [it’s a] one-game-at-a-time tournament, and we’re happy to get the win.”