BOSTON — Make no mistake about Jack Parker‘s vehement displeasure with Boston University’s wildly rare fourth-place finish in the Beanpot. But more than anything, Parker was disappointed with the Terriers’ lack of effort Monday during their 5-4 loss to Harvard in the consolation game at the Garden.
“I thought that was an embarrassing display by my team,” Parker said. “We didn’t come to play.”
The loss hurt more because it came against a non-conference opponent, and those games are significantly weighed in the formula that determines the NCAA tournament. What’s worse, BU (14-9-7) gave away a 4-3 lead by surrendering two goals in the final 4:03 of regulation.
With that, the Terriers finished in last place in the Beanpot for the fourth time in the tournament’s 59-year history, which is the fewest amount for any team in the field.
Boston University, which had a season-high 49 shots on net, built a 1-0 lead but couldn’t convert on a five-minute major power play at the start of the second period. In turn, Harvard’s Alex Killorn knotted the score with a short-handed goal that started a stretch in which the Crimson (5-18-1) scored three times in 73 seconds.
After BU fought to reclaim the lead late in the third, Parker saw his team surrender and take “a real step backward.” As a result, the Terriers are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the second straight season after winning the 2009 national championship. BU hasn’t missed consecutive NCAA tournaments since a three-year stretch from 1987-89.
“We didn’t compete anywhere near as much as we should,” Parker said. “[It was] a very, very disappointing loss, a lot that is going to come back to haunt us later on, I believe. That win doesn’t mean a lot to Harvard. That loss means a lot to us. My club wasn’t ready to make sure they got that done. I was extremely disappointed.”
