Gerbe ends BU's Beanpot Reign of Terror

It had all the makings of the typical Beanpot script.

BC and BU were battling it out in a thrilling, back-and-forth hockey game that went into overtime.

BC was getting most of the shots and quality opportunities, but couldn't cash in with a game winner.

The Eagles had to overcome several very questionable calls, including having their go-ahead goal in the 3rd period taken off the board, and a very poor penalty call leading to a BU power play goal.

Northeastern and BU fans were antagonizing one another, BC fans chanted 'safety school' at BU, and Harvard fans... well, didn't exist.

In short, it was just like any other Beanpot.

Except one little part of the script changed: Nate Gerbe rifled a shot past Brett Bennett in overtime to win the game for BC and return the Eagles to the Beanpot final, while BU was relegated to the consolation game for the first time since 1993 (!!!!). BU has not finished 4th in the Beanpot since 1980 (GO NU!).

This was a hard game to analyze as I spent most of it with a terrible stress headache.

BU scored first and BC fans had to be thinking "here we go again." Tim Kunes played poor defense and allowed McCarthy to slide a shot under Muse about 8 minutes into the 1st period.

Then BC struck back with two goals in ten seconds. Anthony Aiello ripped a long-distance wrister and Dan Bertram set a nice screen to give BC its first goal; then, Benn Ferriero scored right off the ensuing faceoff.

BU took the lead with two in a row in the 2nd, one of which came courtesy of an absolutely terrible call against Nate Gerbe. Nate came in on a breakaway, took a shot, and slid into Bennett; he was called for charging (seriously?!) and BU was given a gift two-man advantage which they cashed in on.

Gerbe tied the game with his 20th goal of the season in the 3rd before netting his 21st to win it in overtime.

Muse was outstanding again, making a number of really fine saves to keep it tied late in the 3rd period.

The power play was a point of concern, as the Eagles got chance after chance in the first period due to some serious BU hackery. They did get one power-play goal on a 4-on-3 but other than that the powerplay struggled.

One of the funnier moments of the game was seeing Brett Bennett get penalized for intentionally knocking the net off while BC was attacking in the BU end. The apple doesn't fall far from the Tree of Parker.