BOSTON — With the score knotted at two and under a minute remaining in regulation, Dylan Sikura took a pass from Zach Aston-Reese in the slot and ripped a shot low glove to give Northeastern (13-12-5) the lead with 42.6 seconds left and an eventual 4-2 victory over No. 11 Boston College (18-12-2) on Monday night in the Beanpot consolation game at TD Garden.


Sikura’s game-winner came less than 30 seconds after a Boston College goal from David Cotton was waived off for goaltender interference. Northeastern would bury the go-ahead goal on the ensuing face-off before Adam Gaudette added an insurance marker on an empty-net tally with 28 seconds left.



Boston College would draw first blood late in the first period on Cotton’s ninth of the season, before NU freshman Matt Filipe potted the equalizer on a snipe from the right circle with 7:34 left in the middle frame. Filipe netted his second of the night less than seven minutes into the third period off a feed from Brendan Collier, but the Eagles made it 2-2 when Colin White pounded home a shot on the doorstep with 6:31 to go.


Ryan Ruck was solid in goal throughout the night for Northeastern, steering aside 30 Eagle shots while Joseph Woll had 26 saves at the other end.



Both penalty-killing units were perfect on the night, with BC going 0-of-3 and Northeastern 0-of-4, snapping a 17-game streak with at least one power-play goal in a game. Boston College outshot the Huskies 32-30 in the game.

 
Goal descriptions:


Boston College took a 1-0 lead with less than three minutes to go in the first period on Cotton’s ninth of the season. After taking a pass from Colin White entering the attacking zone, Cotton stopped and got a Northeastern defender to commit to the shot block before firing a low shot from the left dot that caught the stick of the defender to ricochet over the shoulder of Ruck for the score.


Northeastern leveled the score with 7:34 to go in the second period when Filipe buried his eighth of the year. Off a faceoff in the defensive zone, Filipe forced a turnover at the blue line and went in on an odd-man rush two-on-one. Filipe elected to shoot the puck from the right dot, sending a laser over the right shoulder of Woll to make it 1-1.


Filipe struck again with 13:13 remaining in regulation with his second of the night, capitalizing on an Eagle turnover in their defensive zone. With Boston College attempting to move the puck out of the zone, Brendan Collier picked the pocket of an Eagle defenseman in the right face-off circle before shifting the puck across to Filipe, who potted it into the open net to give Northeastern the lead.


Boston College tied the game at two with 6:31 left in the third period on White’s 14th of the year to tie the game at two, with BC creating a turnover of its own. After the Huskies poked the puck off the stick of an Eagle forward, Casey Fitzgerald stole the puck right back along the half wall before threading a pass out in front to White on the doorstep. White would fan on his first attempt but was able to knock home the second bid to make it 2-2.


Northeastern retook the lead with 42.6 seconds remaining in regulation on Sikura’s 19th of the year on a two-on-one rush with Aston-Reese. After receiving a pass from Garret Cockerill, Aston-Reese sped down the left side before toe dragging around an Eagle defenseman before dishing to Sikura in the slot, who ripped a shot under the glove of Woll for a 3-2 Northeastern lead.


On the ensuing faceoff, won by the Eagles, Boston College pulled Woll in favor of the extra skater, but Gaudette was able to pick off a clearing pass by the Eagles to go in uncontested and depositing the puck into the empty net with 28 seconds left in the game.

 
Stats of the game:


  • Northeastern is now 50-165-16 all-time against Boston College and 11-34 against the Eagles in the Beanpot.

  • The Huskies are now 18-30 all-time in the Beanpot consolation game, and they played Boston College in the third-place game for the first time since 1998.

  • Filipe’s two goals marked the second straight year that a Northeastern freshman has scored two goals in a Beanpot game (Adam Gaudette vs. Harvard, 2016)