Sean Fields was named the MVP and Eberly Trophy winner after leading the Terriers past BC.

The second half century of Beanpot lore began on Monday night (February 10th) just as the first half ended. The Terriers, who had won 24 of the first 50 Beanpots, made it number 25 with a 3-2 win over Boston College.

People had begun to call it the B.U. Invitational by looking at the Terrier dominance over the years. After winning the title just once in the Fifties and three times in the Sixties, the Terriers went on to win it seven times in the Seventies, three times in the Eighties, eight times in the Nineties, and two in this millennium. They had skated off with the coveted trophy and the bragging rights that come with it in seven of the last eight years entering the 2003 tournament.

They have now won it in eight of the last nine years. The only break was in 2001 when the Terriers lost to the Eagles, 5-3. But, normalcy, at least as far as Terrier fans see it, returned last year when B.U. skated to a 5-3 win over Northeastern.

In last Monday night's (February 3rd) opening round, the Terriers skated to a 2-1 win over a vastly improved Harvard team. The victory earned the Terriers a spot in the title game for the ninth straight year, the 19th time in the last 20 years, the 36th time in 40 years and an incredible 42nd time in the 51-year history of this mid-winter tournament.

Even the most ardent Terrier fan felt uncertain about this year's final. After all, the Terriers had lost to the Eagles three times this season. The Eagles entered the game with an 18-6-3 record and were in first place in Hockey East with a 13-4-1 mark. They were ranked number six in the nation, and last Friday night, put on an impressive performance with a 5-2 win at the nation's second-ranked University of Maine.

True, the Terriers had beaten the Eagles in 13 of their last 14 meetings in the Beanpot, but this appeared to be a different year.

It wasn't. It was the Terriers again who prevailed as they have so often over the years in this tournament.

Terrier head coach Jack Parker improved his lifetime Beanpot record to 46-14

"I can't explain why we win every year," said Terrier head coach Jack Parker, who improved his Beanpot record to 46-14 and has now won the title 17 times. "I know why we won this year, though. Because we had these three guys step up."

Parker was referring to junior goalie Sean Fields and sophomore forwards Brian McConnell and Justin Maiser, who were sitting on the podium at the post-game press conference along with their head coach.

Fields was outstanding against the Eagles on Monday night as he has been of late. In fact, in his last four games, he has shut out Merrimack and UMass, allowed one goal to Harvard, and two to Boston College. To go back even further, this was his 17th straight start dating back to December 1st at Cornell. In the previous 16 games, he compiled a 10-6-0 record along with a 2.12 GAA and a .920 save percentage.

But, he was none better than he was against the Eagles. He turned aside 31 of BC's 33 shots. In the first period, he stopped the Eagles' Peter Harrold from point blank in the slot. In the second period, he had to weather a two-minute Eagle power play during which BC had the puck in the B.U. zone for 1:55 of the power play. During that time, he had four saves. Then, in the third period, he flashed his left pad to deny an attempt by Stephen Gionta. Finally, in the closing seconds of regulation, and the Terriers holding their 3-2 lead, he made a pad save of a BC shot that came from center ice.

For his efforts, coupled with his 28-save performance in the Terriers' 2-1 win over Harvard in the Beanpot opener, Fields received both the MVP and Eberly Trophies. The latter is presented to the tournament goalie with the best save percentage in the two games. Stopping 59-of-62 shots in the two games, he finished with a .950 save percentage. The last player to receive both awards was the Terriers' Rick DiPietro in 2000.

"This is unbelievable," Fields said of his two awards. "As far as the MVP is concerned, anyone on our team could have won it."

Brian McConnell had a goal and an assist to lead the Terrier attack.

It could have gone to McConnell, who finished the game with a goal and an assist.

His goal came at 9:26 of the second period, and it staked the Terriers to a 3-0 lead. The traditional sellout crowd of 17,565 didn't realize it at the time, but it was the game-winner.

McConnell gained control of the loose puck along the left boards at center ice. He carried the puck along the boards and brought it to the top of the left faceoff circle. At that point, he let go of a wicked slap shot that went between the five hole of BC goalie Matti Kaltiainen.

"Coach (Parker) always tells us to shoot like a man," said McConnell.

The shot was more like a launch pad.

Earlier in the game, McConnell set up Maiser for the game's first goal. Junior Mark Mullen got the puck to McConnell at center ice. McConnell then crossed with Maiser and left a drop pass. Maiser collected the puck and rifled it to the goal. Kaltiainen, who was screened, never saw the puck as it headed into the left corner.

The goal gave the Terriers a 1-0 lead at 9:59 of the first period.

Neither team generated much offense during the period as the Eagles had just five shots on goal, while the Terriers countered with three.

It was a different story in the second period in which the two teams combined for 26 shots-15 by the Eagles and 11 by the Terriers. While BC had the edge in shots, it was B.U. that came away with the scoring advantage, two goals to one.

David VanderGulik scored the Terriers' first goal of the second period.

Freshman David VanderGulik scored the first on the Terrier power play when he was sent in on Kaltiainen via a perfect pass from senior John Cronin. VanderGulik took the puck across center ice and fired it to the far left hand corner. Sophomore Ryan Whitney, who earlier in the day had attended his grandfather's funeral, also earned an assist. The goal, which came at 9:03 of the period, gave the Terriers a 2-0 cushion.

Just 23 seconds later, McConnell provided the Terriers with what seemed to be a comfortable lead.

To that point, McConnell had drawn attention because of his offensive accomplishments. Just minutes after his goal, it was a defensive play that will have Beanpot fans talking about for years to come. With approximately four minutes to go in the second period, BC's Chris Collins was skating with the puck at center ice. He never saw McConnell coming at him. Faster than you can ask, "Where did that freight train come from?" McConnell hit Collins with such force that it reminded fans of the hit that former Terrier Mike Grier put on the Eagles' Greg Callahan in the Beanpot about a decade ago. Somehow Collins got to his feet and skated to the Eagle bench, while McConnell headed to the Terrier bench.

The play seemed to awaken the Eagles as they finally got on the scoreboard at 17:29 of the second period when they converted on the power play. It came when Ryan Shannon poked home a rebound past the outstretched right pad of Fields.

BC made it interesting at the 18:27 mark of the third period when David Spina collected a rebound in front of Fields and pushed the puck off his left pad for the game's final goal.

"We played the game we wanted to play until we almost self-destructed in the third period," said Parker pointing to the shot differential of 13-4 that the Eagles enjoyed. "We took some penalties we didn't need to take. We should have gotten out of here with a 3-0 or 3-1 win. It should have been easier than it was. We dodged a bullet tonight."

Unquestionably, the Terriers' penalty killing unit did an outstanding job as it killed off 7-of-8 power play chances by the Eagles. BC had three power play opportunities in the first and third periods and two in the second.

Freddy Meyer was just one of the Terriers who did an outstanding job killing penalties.

"What did I see when I looked out there on their power play chances?" Fields repeated of a question asked of him. "I saw guys like VanderGulik and Kenny Magowan and Freddy Meyer blocking shots with their bodies. In fact, all our penalty killers were in front of the puck."

"There were two keys to the game tonight," said Eagle coach Jerry York. "The first was Fields' ability to stop any of the quality shots we had. The second was our failure to execute on the power play. In big games such as this, your special teams have to score goals."

"A lot of our shots didn't get through to Fields," said BC captain Ben Eaves. "You have to credit them for blocking our shots. Tonight, B.U. played their game better than we played ours."

"I can't imagine not winning the Beanpot," said McConnell. "This is my second Beanpot, and we have won it both years. Last year, we beat Northeastern, but this year is more rewarding since we beat BC.

"I think one of the reasons we are so successful in this tournament is we play with a lot of confidence," McConnell continued. "We want to follow the tradition that has been set. We want all the alumni to feel proud that we keep winning it."

"Right now, it's too early to compare this team to others that have won the Beanpot," said Parker. "There are still a lot of things ahead. We want to get home ice for the Hockey East playoffs. And, we want to get selected for the NCAAs. Right now, this is a good team, but great teams win big things at the end of the year."