2020 Beanpot Wrap: BU Earns 5-4 OT Win Vs. BC After Erasing Two-Goal Deficit In Third

BOSTON — It was mayhem at TD Garden late Monday night.

Wilmer Skoog’s overtime winner gave Boston University a thrilling victory against Boston College in the Beanpot semifinal. The Terriers now will face Northeastern in the Final after the Huskies beat Harvard in the earlier semifinal.

Up 3-1 in the back half of the third period, BC looked like it had the game wrapped up, but the Terriers scored three goals to take the lead with less than two minutes to play. Though the tables had been turned, the Eagles would not be outdone, with David Cotton scoring his second goal of the night with 58 seconds left in the period to force overtime.

Patrick Giles and Alex Newhook recorded BC’s other goals. Patrick Curry, David Farrance, Patrick Harper and Robert Mastrosimone had the Terriers’ other tallies.

Spencer Knight turned away 32 shots for the Eagles, while Ashton Abel stopped 36 for BU.

WILD FIRST
There was no shortage of goals in the opening period, which concluded with BC up 2-1.

It didn’t take long for the Eagles to open the scoring, 2:15 to be exact. After the puck was dumped into BC’s offensive zone, Marc McLaughlin did a nice job of winning a battle and carrying the puck behind the net. The fourth-line center then slid a no-look, backhand pass to Giles, who was right at the post, and the winger buried the opening tally.

The Eagles didn’t stop there.

With Farrance in the box for tripping, BC freshman Alex Newhook cashed in just seconds into the man advantage. Newhook received a pass at the bottom of the circle, then skated closer to Abel and roofed it home to put the Eagles up 2-0 at 7:19.

The Terriers didn’t just lay down, however.

With Logan Hutsko in the box for high-sticking, BU got one back. After getting a pass from the point from Farrance, Logan Cockerill carried the puck at the bottom of the circle, then sent a pass across the slot, where Curry was waiting. The captain quickly knocked the Terriers’ first goal past Knight at 9:13.

UP A PAIR … THANKS TO A LITTLE HELP
The second period mostly was quiet, but the Eagles did up their lead to two shortly before the break thanks to a little puck luck.

Hutsko was handling the puck behind the net and then slid a pass into the slot, where Julius Mattila misfired on a one-timer, with the puck trickling over to Cotton as a result. Cotton managed to get a backhand shot off as he was shoved to the ice by Cam Crotty, and though Abel redirected the attempt away, it quickly caromed off BU defenseman Alex Vlasic and into the Terrier net.

ABSOLUTE MAYHEM
The Eagles looked like they had things in the bag.

But alas, they did not.

BC melted down in the back half of the third period, squandering their two-goal lead in what was a wild stanza.

Harper carried the puck along the right wing, and just before skating past the end line sent a diagonal pass to Farrance, who was crashing toward the net. The defenseman quickly snapped a one-timer past Knight at 12:36.

That wasn’t all for the Terriers, Farrance and Harper specifically, either. Just over a minute later, Farrance dashed toward the net with the puck, but instead of shooting, blindly sent a pass into the slot, where Harper was waiting. Although there were four Eagles near the path of the shot, Harper created enough space to zip home an equalizer at 13:46.

And with 1:42 to play, the Terriers went ahead.

Mastrosimone skated deep into the offensive zone with speed while Trevor Zegras waited in the corner with the puck. Zegras then fed Mastrosimone with a tremendous pass at the far post, and the freshman winger tipped home the go-ahead goal at 18:18.

But BU’s lead, its first of the game, would be short-lived because with 58 seconds to play, the Eagles tied things back up.

Cotton attempted to get a pass to Newhook in the slot, but he fired it too hard and the puck bounced off Newhook and back to the captain. With Abel off his line, Cotton made sure not to miss, leveling things to force overtime.

TERRIERS CLAIM OT
The five-minute first overtime didn’t result in a winner — but the 20-minute second OT period did.

Vlasic shot a puck from the left wing that Knight stopped. In making the save though, the puck pinballed in front of the net and, ultimately, off to Knight’s left, where Skoog was waiting to bury the winner.