By Jared Sugerman, News Staff

For teams with championship aspirations, and for those just hoping to qualify for the conference playoffs, the Beanpot is an equalizer.
Before the women’s tournament began, No. 7 Boston College (17-7-3, 10-5-1) had the third most points in Hockey East, but head coach Dave Flint thought they might be the best team in the league. The Huskies (10-14-3, 5-9-1) had already lost three times to the Eagles, and they hadn’t won any of their last six games overall.
Nevertheless, with only 20 minutes to play in their opening-round tournament tilt, the Huskies and Eagles were tied, 1-1.
The third period began with Boston College trying to capitalize on a power-play opportunity. As the play was being moved away from Northeastern’s goal, Eagles’ forward Kelli Stack reversed the flow by stopping the puck in mid-air near the Huskies’ blue line. The officials ruled that the puck had never left the Huskies’ defensive zone, and play continued until forward Danielle Welch beat sophomore goalie Leah Sulyma to give her team the one-goal advantage.
‘I didn’t think it was offsides. I think it was right on the line,’ Stack said.
Flint and Northeastern senior forward and co-captain Colleen Sanborn disagreed, saying that Boston College was indeed offside.
Stack capped the scoring with a shorthanded tally at 9:36 of the third period, helping the Eagles to a 3-1 victory and sending them on to the Beanpot championship game, where they will play Harvard (11-7-3, 10-4-2 ECAC), who beat Boston University (13-10-5, 10-6-0), 8-0, in Tuesday’s early game.
Boston College took the initial lead at 2:38 of the first period, but Northeastern answered with a goal at 3:14, the result of a back-hander from senior forward Ali Bielawski that found its way past the glove of’ netminder Molly Schaus and into the Eagles’ net.
‘That’s a team that doesn’t quit. They fight hard. They come at you quick. They had us back on our heels for a little while,’ BC head coach Katie King said.
While playing shorthanded later in the period, senior forward Missy Elumba continued to pressure the Eagles, forcing a turnover in the offensive zone. With the puck on her stick and Schaus scrambling to cut off the angle, Elumba fired toward the cage, but Schaus dropped to the ice and deflected the shot up and over the crossbar.
‘I was kicking myself, trying to make up for that the whole game,’ Elumba said.
During the second period, she nearly did. After receiving a pass from junior forward Lindsay Berman, Elumba sent the puck toward the Eagles’ goal. Schaus made the initial save, but a scrum ensued, and the puck was eventually worked over the goal line. The referee could not say how the puck had been forced in, so he conferred with the goal judge, who claimed that it had been pushed in with a hand. The score remained 1-1.
Before they meet the Terriers,’ NU’ will play a home-and-home series with Providence (15-11-2, 10-4-1) this weekend.’ Tommorow’s game at Providence is at’ 7 p.m., as is Saturday’s home game.