BU beats Harvard 3-1 in Beanpot Semifinal

BU beat Harvard 3-1 in the first round of this year's Beanpot in an all-around sloppy game. I'll take the W's any way we can get them though. BU jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a great play by sophomore winger Matt Nieto who had great patience before scoring on a wrap -around of a Harvard d-man's leg. I think the whole crowd(which at the time consisted of BU students and media members) thought he was going to shoot the puck short-side there. BU's second goal was a greasy powerplay goal by Wade Megan on the assists from Sahir Gill and Sean Escobedo. Megan also scored the 3rd goal of the night, walking in all alone and scoring on a backhanded flip. Harvard added a powerplay goal at the end of the second but could never get any closer than that.

BU advances to play Newton University(BC) aka Chestnut Hill Community College. BC extended Northeastern's Beanpot-less streak to 24 years as they still have not won one since 1988. Sucks to suck Northeastern. You were an embarrassment to hockey in general tonight not just yourselves. BC literally was given the game but I guess we shouldn't expect much else from a team with Vinny Saponari on it. BU returns to action this Friday as they host UMass"riot-city" Amherst. BC takes on UVM in their game Friday before the 60th Beanpot final next Monday which should be a thriller.

BU beats Merrimack; Harvard preview

The BU Terriers broke their two game losing streak with a convincing 4-1 win over Merrimack in North Andover on Friday night. The Terriers got a first period goal from senior captain Chris Connolly and two second period goals from Sahir Gill and Alex Chiasson. Connolly added another in the third which sealed the game for the Terriers. Senior goalie lost the shutout with 1:48 remaining which sucks but hopefully gives him some motivation to shut out Harvard tonight at the Beanpot.

The newly appointed #1/2 BU Terriers take on Harvard today at 5 in the first round of the 60th Beanpot. The 16-8-1 Terriers are also #1 in the pairwise rankings while 7-6-9 Harvard comes in at #23 one spot ahead of Northeastern. Northeastern takes on BC in the nightcap at 8pm(I hope they play a 5ot thriller so the teams are just gassed for the rest of the season). Harvard has one of the best powerplays in the nation(30%) which can be a problem for BU who is the most penalized team in the nation. The Crimson tested BU at a game 3 weeks ago in Cambridge before the Terriers took home a 4-3 OT win after trailing 3-1 going into the 3rd. The Terriers look to win their first beanpot since 2009 and take back control of the "BU Invitational". The student sections are sold out so it should be a great atmosphere there tonight.

Mister WorldWide is 7 for 7 IN THE PLAYOFFS

Start putting money on me, but seriously what an awesome game!

Super Bowl: Pats vs GMEN

So we all know this years Super Bowl is is match up from the infamous Super Bowl 42 (I dislike Roman Numerals so deal with it). But these teams are totally different from that game. The Giants transformed to a ground and pound team to an exciting passing offense. The Pats transitioned from a passing offense to a more efficient overall offense. Also each team are a lot different from when they played each other in the regular season. The Giants were pretty much banged up on both sides of the ball and the Pats were coming back from a humiliating defeat in Steel City. Now, each team are pretty much 100% (I know Gronk is hurt but the Giants have said numerous times they are expecting 100% healthy Gronk) healthy and have been playing good ball as of late. Usually when I look at a Super Bowl game I don't get into the numbers quite often cause its the Super Bowl and you can throw those numbers right out the window but since I love you all I will look at some interesting facts.

Factors:

Giants D-Line vs. Pats O-Line: I think this is will figure out which team will have the upper hand in the game. I like the Giants D-line more so cause they have 4 extremely good pass rushers but I'll say this since the Pats line up in a lot 2 TE formations this will help nullify the abilities of the Giants pass rush. (+1 Giants)

Giants O-Line vs. Pats D-Line aka Vince Wilfork: Wilfork has played his best stretch of games I ever seen him play. The Giants O-Line was manhandled by the 49ers and do shows signs of letting up at times which endangers Eli Manning. But Manning is a gamer (hit over 20 times in the NFC Champ. game) and I call this split. (split)

Eli(TE) vs. Pretty Boy Tom: My opinion is that if you look at both careers I'd give to Tom everyday and twice on Sundays but if you look at right now, meaning in the last month and half, Eli has been playing out of this world. I give Eli on slight edge. (Giants +1)

Giants Secondary vs. Pats TEs & Welker (other WR dont exist in NE offense): I give the upper hand to Pats if with a banged up Gronk. Giants can't cover big athletic TEs at all (ie Davis, Witten, Celek etc et al). Welker is small and fast and disappears and shows up at the right time for a 1st down (probably one of his many in this game). (Pats +1)

Giants Passing Offense vs. Pats Secondary: Giants got this battle. Arguably the best 3 young WR in the game plus two TEs that catch and 1 RB that I can catch the ball out of the backfield (Bradshaw). Pats secondary sucks this year. (Giants +1)

Giants Running Game vs. Pats Running Game: the Pats have been running the ball well of late and the Giants have been playing OK against the run. The Giants haven't running the ball all that well but they are consistent with running the ball in their game plan. (Even split.)

 I usually put my money on the hottest team entering the game. Last year it was the Green Bay Packers and the year before that the Saints, both teams were on fire entering the playoffs. So this leads me to pick the Giants in this years Super Bowl.

#3 BU- #5 Merrihack preview

The 15-8-1 (12-6-1)BU Terriers and 14-5-5(10-4-3)Merrimack Warriors will square off Friday night in a pivotal Hockey East matchup in North Andover at Lawler Arena. The game has already sold out and the tickets are in high demand online some going for as much as triple the face value. The Terriers look to rebound from a sweep at the hands of the Maine Black Bears(and Bunyon) last weekend. The Warriors are coming off a hard fought win over the PC Friars at home on Sunday afternoon. Both teams are in a dog fight for the top spot in Hockey East as the Warriors currently sit 4th but have two games in hand over all competitors. The Terriers are tied for 1st with Boston College and have one game in hand over the Eagles.

This matchup will certainly be a physical one as the Terriers lead the nation in penalty minutes(498) with Merrimack not far behind(443). Merrimack's d-man/headhunter Kyle Bigos leads the conference in individual penalty minutes with 30 penalties for 74 minutes. The teams split the first 2 games at Agganis Arena with Merrimack winning the first 3-2 in OT back in November while BU took a 4-2 win in January right after the inter-semester break.

Both teams have injury concerns entering the game as BU will be without freshman d-man Alexx Privitera for the next 4 weeks and will also most likely be without junior d-man Max NiCastro with a shoulder injury. Merrimack has its own injury problems as forwards Quinn Gold and Elliot Sheen have injury concerns after their physical win over PC.

BU will most likely have to shuffle their lineup to deal with the injuries, most likely double shifting their d-men at various points throughout the game unless the coaches feel comfortable enough to move Ben Rosen or Matt Ronan to defense for a significant portion of a game against a top 5 team. I would be willing to bet 13 forwards will dress once again(unless Cisse is benched) in which case the "bod" Ronan would have to be the next man in line. Should be a great game and atmosphere either way. There is no way this isn't a one goal game or tie with how even these two teams have played in their two previous matchups this year.