Beanpot 2014 Live: Harvard Rolls To Victory In Consolation Game

Final, Harvard 6-2: Tyler Moy puts the bow on a win by potting Harvard’s sixth goal of the night in the game’s final minute.

The Crimson have now won the Beanpot consolation game in each of the last four seasons, while BU has now placed fourth in the tournament for a second straight year.

The night’s main event is now just about an hour away, with Boston College and Northeastern scheduled to take the ice at 7:40 p.m.

Follow along with Mike Cole’s live blog of the championship game right here.

Third period, 17:46, Harvard 5-2: Harvard’s Jimmy Vesey scores an empty-netter, and that’ll just about seal it for the Crimson.

BU coach David Quinn sends out senior goalie Anthony Moccia, who has never played a minute for the Terriers. It might be in garbage time, but this is quite the venue to make your debut.

Third period, 17:20, Harvard 4-2: It’s desperation time. BU pulls its goalie with 2:40 to play, still down two goals.

Third period, 7:57, Harvard 4-2: Less than a minute after Valek and Noonan head to the box, BU’s Ahti Oksanen takes a beautiful feed from Evan Rodrigues and beats Steve Michalek to cut the Terriers’ deficit to one goal.

Harvard extended its lead back to two goals just seconds later, though, when Luke Esposito’s pass from behind the BU net deflected off the stick of BU defenseman Patrick MacGregor and into the net.

It was Esposito’s second goal of the night, and Kyle Criscuolo and Max Everson were credited with the helpers.

Third period, 6:39, Harvard 3-1: Harvard’s David Valek is foiled by Sean Maguire on a breakaway, and some extracurricular activity promptly lands both Valek and BU’s Garrett Noonan in the penalty box.

We’ll play 4-on-4 for two minutes.

Third period, 0:00, Harvard 3-1: Harvard controls the opening face-off, and the third period is underway.

Second intermission, Harvard 3-1: The final seconds of the second period tick away, with Maguire holding strong against one last power-play surge by Harvard.

The Crimson outshot the Terriers 20-11 in the second period, and they hold a 30-16 overall lead in the shot department. They will also be on the man advantage to start the third, as BU’s Patrick MacGregor has 25 seconds remaining in the sin bin for a holding violation.

Second period, 13:19, Harvard 3-1: BU’s Matt Lane (not to be confused with former Patriots lineman Max Lane), is whistled for hooking. It’ll be a two-minute power play for the Crimson.

Second period, 11:44, Harvard 3-1: The Crimson kill off Hart’s penalty, and Kyle Criscuolo gets a nice shorthanded bid but is turned away by Maguire.

A few scorekeeping notes: The assist on Harvard’s second goal has been changed to Jimmy Vesey, and Criscuolo has been credited with the second assist on the goal by Esposito.

Second period, 9:09, Harvard 3-1: Brian Hart, who scored Harvard’s second goal, heads to the box for elbowing, giving BU its first power play of the period.

Second period, 6:59, Harvard 3-1: The complexion of this game has changed in a hurry. Harvard has now scored three times in less than six minutes, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.

The Crimson’s latest goal came off the stick of freshman center Luke Esposito, who slammed home the juicy rebound of a Max Everson shot from the left circle.

Second period, 3:33, Harvard 2-1: The Harvard top line’s offensive pressure finally paid off, with winger Brian Hart beating Maguire to give the Crimson their first lead of the evening. 

Sean Malone poked the puck away from Terriers center Cason Hohmann in the BU zone and right to Hart on the doorstep.

Second period, 1:14, 1-1: Kyle Criscuolo unloads a rocket past Sean Maguire, and we are all tied up.

Criscuolo, who was denied by Maguire on a scoring chance in the first period, skated all alone into the BU zone and unleashed a laser of a shot from the top of the right face-off circle, beating the Terriers netminder top-shelf, blocker-side.

Freshman center Luke Esposito was credited with the assist.  

Second period, 0:00, BU 1-0: The second period is set to begin.

Robbie Baillargeon is back on the ice to take the opening face-off, which is good news for the Terriers.

First intermission, BU 1-0: A very quick first period wraps up with Boston University taking a 1-0 lead into the dressing room.

Harvard’s top line of Jimmy Vesey, Sean Malone and Brian Hart have put pressure on BU netminder Sean Maguire, but they have been unable to capitalize on clean looks from in front of the net.

The Crimson had another such chance in the closing minutes of the period, but Hart was unable to gather Vesey’s pass quickly enough to get off a clean shot.

One thing to keep an eye out for on the BU side is the status of top-line center Robbie Baillargeon, who left the game with a knee injury with about five minutes to play in the period and did not return. As the Terriers’ second-leading scorer this season (seven goals, 12 assists), his loss would be a big one for head coach David Quinn.

First period, 18:46, BU 1-0: BU went on the power play for the first time tonight when Harvard defenseman Victor Newell was whistled for holding, but the Crimson were able to kill it off.

Baillargeon has gone to the bench with an apparent leg injury and seems to be in considerable pain. Matt Lane replaced him on the first line’s next shift.

Harvard’s Kyle Criscuolo had a golden opportunity to tie this game up a chance similar to the one that produced Rodrigues’ goal, but he was denied by Maguire.

First period, 10:42, BU 1-0: Boston University strikes first.

Freshman center Robbie Baillargeon gained control of the puck behind the Harvard net and, as he absorbed a hit along the boards, found linemate Evan Rodrigues on the doorstep. Rodrigues beat Crimson goalie Steve Michalek to give BU a 1-0 lead.

First period, 8:40, 0-0: We’ve seen some quality scoring opportunities already here, but no goals.

BU was able to kill off Somerby’s tripping penalty without much trouble, but Harvard’s top line quickly put together two golden 5-on-5 chances, with Sean Maguire turning away Jimmy Vesey both times.

The Terriers got a chance of their own about a minute later, but a rocket by freshman forward Nick Roberto rang off the left post.

First period, 0:46, 0-0: Let’s not have another repeat of last week’s semifinal, OK, guys?

BU’s Doyle Somerby goes to the box for tripping just 46 seconds in, giving Harvard an early power play.

First period, 0:00, 0-0: Harvard wins the opening face-off, and we are underway.

4:15 p.m.: We’re just 15 minutes from puck drop here at TD Garden. Attendance is spotty thus far, but you can be sure this place will be rocking when Boston College and Northeastern take the ice for the title game in a few hours.

First, we have a third-place finisher to crown.

Boston University will trot out a top line of freshman Robbie Baillargeon centering between junior Evan Rodrigues and sophomore Danny O’Regan. (O’Regan’s older brother, Tommy, skates on Harvard’s third line.) On the blue line for the Terriers, it’ll be senior captain Garrett Noonan paired up with freshman T.J. Ryan, and sophomore Sean Maguire starting in net.

On the other side, Harvard boasts a top line of three NHL draftees: freshman center Sean Malone (Buffalo) and sophomore wingers Jimmy Vesey (Nashville) and Brian Hart (Tampa Bay). Vancouver Canucks prospect Patrick McNally represents one half of the Crimson’s top D-pairing along with sophomore Desmond Bergin, and Minnesota Wild draftee Steve Michalek gets the nod in goal.

Michalek took over for starter Raphael Girard after Girard gave up five goals on 21 shots in last Monday’s semifinal loss to Northeastern.

Here’s a look a the line combinations and defensive pairings for Boston University and Harvard.

Boston University

Rodrigues–Baillargeon–O’Regan
Lane–Hohmann–Roberto
Collier–Moran–Duane
Moscatel–Lawrence–Ronan

Noonan–Ryan
Somerby–MacAfee
Oksanen–MacGregor

Maguire
O’Connor
Moccia

Harvard

Vesey–Malone–Hart
Gozzo–Esposito–Criscuolo
O’Regan–Moy–Valek
Tringale–McGregor–Zielonka

McNally–Bergin
Everson–Newell
Ford–Fick

Michalek
Girard

8 a.m. ET: There won’t be any hardware on the line, but Harvard and Boston University will look to finish the 2014 Beanpot on a high note Monday night in the annual tournament’s consolation game.

The Crimson and Terriers both came out on the losing end in last Monday’s semifinals, with Northeastern thrashing Harvard 6-0 and BU dropping a 3-1 decision to rival Boston College.

This season as a whole has been a struggle for both squads. BU (8-15-4, 3-8-3), a perennial Hockey East powerhouse, enters the week ranked 10th in the 11-team league, while Harvard (7-12-3, 4-9-3) occupies the same spot in the 12-school Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Harvard has won the third-place game at the last three Beanpots, including a 7-4 win over BU in last year’s edition. That also was the final score when these two teams met earlier this season. Crimson freshmen Sean Malone and Phil Zielonka netted two goals apiece — Zielonka’s second coming on an empty-netter — and Harvard chased BU starting goalie Matt O’Connor midway through the second period.

Puck drop at the Garden is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. (with BC-Northeastern following at 7:30), but keep it tuned to NESN.com throughout the day for updates, line combinations and a whole lot more.