The championship game is set for the 2011 Beanpot, and it's not much of a surprise: No. 1 Boston College will do battle with Northeastern next week, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. EST. No. 14 Boston University and Harvard will meet in the consolation game, at 4:30 p.m.
It will mark the first championship game between the Eagles and Terriers since 1983. BC won that game going away, 8-2.
Monday night, in the tournament's opening play, Northeastern blanked Harvard, 4-0, in the first semifinal. Then in the second semifinal, Boston College got past Boston University in overtime, 3-2, netting the game-winning goal when junior defenseman Tommy Cross scored just 3:17 into the extra period. It was the first overtime game in the Beanpot since 2008, when two of the games needed extra time.
If you missed the BU-BC game, BC Interruption has you covered with the highlights (jump ahead to the 6:44 mark for Cross' game-winner):
It was BC's fourth win over BU this season (the Eagles are 4-0 against their Green-Line rivals), as BC Interruption writes, it's important in the rivalry, not just for the Eagles' win, but also "because BU cares so much about the 'BU Invitational.'"
Northeastern will be looking to put an end to the Beanpot's longest title drought. The Huskies last won the Beanpot in 1998, and will be appearing in just their sixth appearance in the Championship Game in the last 23 tournaments.
This year's Beanpot Championship Game also gives the Eagles and Huskies a rather unique quirk to this year's schedule. After each program returns to Hockey East play on Friday night, BC and Northeastern will face each other three times, in three different arenas, in less than a week -- on Monday February 14, followed by their regular season home-and-home scheduled for Friday and Saturday, February 18-19.