[UPDATE: Eagles lost today to BU in the Hockey East semifinals, 4-3, in OT. It is unlikely BC will be selected for the NCAA Tournament.] [UPDATE: Men’s basketball lost to Western Kentucky, 79-62, in the opening round of the NIT and finishes its season at 19-16.] Seasons for men’s hockey and men’s basketball are not over.
The men’s hockey team will play . . . who else? . . . BU in the semifinals of the Hockey East Tournament Friday. The Eagles, who won the Hockey East regular season title, beat Merrimack on consecutive nights Friday (1-0) and Saturday (4-3 OT) to advance. Game time is 2 pm PT and it is being broadcast on NESN.
If BC wins, they will play the winner of Northeastern-Providence on Saturday. A win in that game may be necessary for the 20-13-3 Eagles to make the NCAA Tournament.
Men’s basketball will play in the post-season for the first time since 2011. BC (19-15) plays at Western Kentucky (24-10) Tuesday at 5 pm PT in the opening round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). Game can be seen on ESPN3. The Eagles are seeded 5th in their bracket. Thirty-two teams play in the NIT.
Nine teams from the ACC will play in the NCAA Tournament. BC finished 12th in the ACC this season with a 7-11 conference record. Notre Dame and Louisville are also in the NIT.
BC’s women’s lacrosse team made a San Diego stop on its SoCal tour yesterday, beating San Diego State, 19-8. Last Wednesday, the #2-ranked Eagles defeated #12 USC, 13-12, in overtime. The Eagles are 9-0.
Here’s a very brief snippet of action, featuring, in maroon, midfielder Brooke Troy (28) and attacker Captain Tess Daniels (5).
Several local alumni joined the significant number of BC parents, family, and friends rooting for the Eagles. Among the San Diego Eagles joining me at the game were Mary Farrell Berube ’80, Ray Berube ’78, Sarah Lowe Roughneen ’88, Greg Cortese JD’74, and Susan Fleck Gill ’88. A contingent from the girls’ lacrosse team at Cathedral Catholic High School (principal Kevin Calkins ’00) was also in attendance.
Saturday’s weather disrupted post-game plans for a meet-and-greet, but the team did pose with our chapter banner as an expression of appreciation for our support. They also enjoyed seeing the banner displayed on the sidelines of “enemy” territory.
In other BC winter sports action, the #4 women’s hockey team fell short of reaching its 6th Frozen Four in 8 years, losing to #6 Ohio State, 2-0, at home in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. Freshman Daryl Watts is a top-3 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, presented to the nation’s best women’s collegiate hockey player. And BC women’s lacrosse may be boosted the rest of the season by the possible return of hockey player Kenzie Kent, last year’s ACC female athlete of the year for her play on both the hockey and lacrosse teams.
Last week, I joined five classmates (Class of 1968) for a BC winter sports weekend. One or two times a year, there is a weekend when the men’s and women’s basketball teams and men’s and women’s hockey teams all play at home. I had been a regular attendee on these weekends when I lived in New England, but this was the first such weekend for me since moving to California in 2012.
I flew in the night of Wednesday, February 7. I came in late enough to miss the snow, but not the cold rain. The next day was bitterly cold, and it helped me realize that it had been six years since I had last experienced below-freezing temperatures.
Before the women’s hockey game Friday afternoon, we had another appointment in Conte Forum. One of my classmates had read that relatively new Athletic Director Martin Jarmond liked meeting BC alumni from different eras. He sent Jarmond an email, asking if he was interested in getting together with a bunch of Golden Eagles-to-be, and the response was “Yeah!” We met briefly with Jarmond prior to the game, sharing some of our hopes for and concerns about BC athletics.
I was wearing a vintage BC jacket. After we had had a group photo taken at the end of our meeting, Jarmond noticed the back of the jacket and had a picture taken of it. Within less than an hour, he tweeted about our meeting, including the group photo and the photo of the jacket. (I wish I could say the jacket was mine from the sixties, but I had found it in the early 2000s on a rack at a vintage clothing store in Cambridge. $30.)
Here’s a bigger version of the group photo.
L-R: Bill McDonald, Tom Sugrue, Ken Hamberg, Martin Jarmond, Larry Kenah, Ed Hattauer, and Dan Downey.
Going into the weekend, we figured the most likely win was women’s hockey. The Eagles were ranked 3rd in the country at the time and had beaten their opponent that day, UNH, by an aggregate score of 11-1 in two previous meetings this year. It seemed almost a sure win, while the other teams faced significant challenges. UNH beat BC, 2-1. Of course.
The other teams, though, ran counter to form as well . . . but they won. Men’s hockey scored late in regulation to send the game to overtime, and then scored the game-winner with less than 7 seconds remaining in the overtime period to beat UMass Lowell, 3-2. Men’s basketball held #25 Miami scoreless over the last 6-plus minutes of the game and won, 72-70. Women’s basketball secured only their second ACC win of the season, winning handily over Pitt, 72-61. Pitt and BC are both 2-10 in the conference.
Here’s a brief (5:30) video of scenes from the basketball games and men’s hockey game. (Women’s hockey, despite its vaunted status nationally, does not attract fans. It seemed almost disrespectful to show the nearly empty stands and absence of cheering. Building fan support for one of the best examples of athletic excellence at BC is one of the issues we brought before Martin Jarmond, who recognized its importance.)
Replacement for the ‘Plex”
New Athletics Field House
If you have not been to campus lately, there is significant construction going on. (I wonder if there is any class since the fifties that has not seen “significant construction” going on at BC.) The new Connell Family Recreation Center is taking shape, where Edmond’s Hall once stood. On what was Shea Field, the new Athletics Field House, which will provide an indoor practice facility for football and other teams, is also showing its external form.
