Northeastern's Gunnarwolfe Fontaine scored in overtime for the second week in a row to topple Boston University 4-3 and win the Huskies' ninth Beanpot.
BOSTON – Gunnarwolfe Fontaine did it again.
The Northeastern senior forward scored with 28.6 seconds left in overtime to secure a 4-3 win for the Huskies in the 71st Beanpot Championship against Boston University at TD Garden on Monday.
Fontaine scored the overtime winner last week against Harvard to send Northeastern to the final, and he did it again for the championship. The Huskies never led prior to the winning goal, and overcame three different one-goal deficits en route to their fifth title in the last six tournaments.
“We knew going into the third it was going to be a close game and we needed to find a way to win in the third period,” Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe said. “Good teams do have to give ourselves a chance… You need your best players to make plays, and they did in overtime.”
BU outshot the Huskies 6-1 in overtime, but Northeastern’s one made the difference. Fontaine and Huskies captain Justin Hryckowian charged up ice on a 2-on-1. Fontaine dropped it off for Hryckowian, who fended off two Terrier defenders between the right circle and goal line before dishing it back to a wide-open Fontaine on the inner edge of the left circle.
“We were confident in our ability to play any team, any game,” Fontaine said. “And we know if we play our style, we can win any game, so we’re a confident group.”
The win marked Northeastern’s ninth title in the history of the tournament. Fontaine had two assists in addition to his overtime winner and was named tournament MVP, while Northeastern goalie Cameron Whitehead (33 saves) earned the Eberly Award as best goalie of the tournament.
BU forward Macklin Celebrini scored his 23rd goal of the season to move into a tie with Boston College’s Cutter Gauthier for most goals in the NCAA. Lane Hutson, the nation’s top-scoring defenseman (11 goals, 25 assists), broke his six-game goal drought to give BU a 3-2 lead late in the second period. Goalie Mathieu Caron made 13 saves in the loss, despite the Terriers outshooting Northeastern 36-17.
“Obviously disappointed with the end result,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said. “I mean, taking nothing away from [Northeastern], they kept fighting, but I thought we were the better team for the majority of the game. I thought we controlled possession. I thought we had better scoring chances, but hey, we ended up on the wrong side of it. We lost, so tough way to go down.”
BU led 3-2 entering the third-period thanks to Hutson’s go-ahead goal. Jeremy Wilmer fed it to him in the slot from behind the net to put the Terriers ahead for the third time of the night with just 7.2 seconds remaining in the second period.
It took Northeastern 48:36 until they got their first power-play opportunity, but they took advantage. BU defenseman Gavin McCarthy went to the box for holding, and Northeastern forward Jack Williams tied it 3-3 with a one-timer at 9:51 of the third after Terrier defenseman Cade Webber lost his stick.
Celebrini opened the scoring at 14:41 of the first for BU. Huskies defenseman Pito Walton whiffed on a pass up ice right in front of Northeastern’s net. BU forward Jack Harvey picked up the puck and dished it back to Celebrini, who cashed in on the easy shot to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead.
Northeastern tied it 1-1 at 5:52 of the second period, taking advantage of a 3-on-1 rush with BU caught behind in the play. Eventually, the puck got over to Matt DeMelis, who tapped it in at the net front.
The Terriers got back in front when Northeastern defenseman Hunter McDonald deflected BU forward Devin Kaplan’s cross-ice pass attempt into his own net at 9:11 of the second, but Hryckowian drew it level just 39 seconds later. Terriers defenseman Aiden Celebrini blocked the Huskies captain’s first attempt from the right circle, but Hryckowian picked it up and slid it through Caron’s legs for the 2-2 equalizer.
“[Caron] was a little square to me trying to locate the puck,” Hryckowian said. “I was just trying to get pucks on net and luckily it squeaked through.”
The Terriers threatened to retake the lead for a fourth time in the final minutes of the third period, including on a Quinn Hutson wraparound attempt on a wide-open net that bounced off the post at 15:47, but the Huskies forced overtime before taking the Beanpot crown.
“Going into the third period, there wasn’t panic,” Keefe said. “I thought our guys did a great job of just staying in that moment saying, ‘Hey, we’re right here. We got to go out, execute and win a third period, and we’ll have a chance to win the Beanpot.’”
Fontaine and the Huskies took that chance and earned bragging rights in Boston to extend their Beanpot dynasty.