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The Eagles (29-0-0) scored a touchdown and made a two-point conversion en route to an 8-0 victory against Harvard (12-10-1) in the Beanpot semifinal match on Tuesday. Six Eagles lit the lamp and Megan Keller and Alex Carpenter both tallied two goals in the blowout.
The Eagles are 6-10-0 against Harvard in the Beanpot, including a loss in last year’s finals (their first loss of the 2014-15 season). Boston College came into the 2016 Beanpot in the same position, carrying a 27-0-0 record. This time, however, the Eagles stood tall and came out on top.
"Those losses for us are something we look at, but not something we dwell on," said coach Katie Crowley. "We compete hard against Harvard, we have for years and I think it's always special to have that win."
Katie Burt recorded her tenth shutout of the season—tying the single season record for the women's hockey program—facing only 12 shots all game thanks to the collective team work in front of her.
"It's definitely reassuring knowing we have Katie back there," said Alex Carpenter. "We feel very safe...but that also comes from a full team effort."
From puck drop, BC dominated, playing the entirety of the first two minutes in the Harvard zone.
The Eagles got on the board early and often, asserting their dominance and only needing 20 minutes to do so. The first-ranked offense found the back of the net five times in the opening period—one of the Eagles’ most dominant periods of play thus far.
Tori Sullivan opened up scoring 4:17 into the first period; she corralled a rebound in the crease off a shot from Grace Bizal, then tapped the puck in behind the skate of Emerance Maschmeyer. Less than two minutes later, it was Kaliya Johnson from the point to launch a rocket through traffic and into the net.
The Eagles continued their dominance throughout the rest of the period as Toni Ann Miano, Keller, and Carpenter all added to the score.
With just under five minutes left in the period, Keller proved her versatility as a two-way player, initially robbing Harvard of a breakaway chance and making her way up the ice to score on the same play. She would go on to score her second goal of the night in the second period to give the Eagles the seven-goal lead.
As the teams took the ice for the second period, Harvard switched things up hoping to spark a comeback, putting Brianna Lang into the net to replace a struggling Maschmeyer. The change helped, but the Eagles were simply too powerful up front to be stopped.
"After the first period, it's easy to say, 'Hey, we're up 5-0,' but holding each other accountable was the biggest thing going into the next two periods," said Carpenter of keeping her teammates motivated.
Lexi Bender got in on the action five minutes into the second period, scoring the Eagles sixth goal. Dana Trivigno received a leading pass from Makenna Newkirk in the neutral zone and brought it down the boards behind the Harvard goal, sending it to Bender to tap in the easy one-timer.
Carpenter rounded out the scoring halfway through the third to get the only goal in the final period, and goal number 124 of her career. She now holds the career goal record in both men's and women's hockey, beating out Brian Gionta who previously held the record at 123 goals.
Despite opening the game with a first period of absolute dominance, the Eagles never let up and played a full team effort for an entire game to return to the finals and avenge last year's loss in the championship game.
"I can't say enough about how well our team played today, I think we put a full 60 minutes together" said Crowley. "I was really happy with that full 60 minutes."
The Eagles head to Connecticut to face off with University of Connecticut this Saturday. They will return to Walter Brown Arena Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. to face either Boston University or Northeastern University in the championship game.
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Too pale for people to actually believe that I’m from Florida. Can rap Nicki Minaj's Super Bass in its entirety. Leslie Knope is my hero. Breakfast is the only meal that matters.
