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Harvard Last in Beanpot; Eagles Take Title

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

The Boston College hockey learn realized it was going to win its first Beanpot since 1976 late in the second period at the Garden last night.

With the Eagles already ahead of Northeastern, 5-1, Co Captain Lee Blossom, a veteran of three Beanpot runner-up finishes, stole the puck from a Husky defenseman and dished it off to teammate Hilly McDonough When McDonough scored his breakaway goal, the BC bench emptied its first such round of congratulations in live straight years of Beanpot finals.

The Huskies were out skated from the start, but once the Eagles knew the 'Pot would soon be theirs-the first return to Chestnut Hill since 1976 and only the second in Ix years they coasted the rest of the way enjoying the waning minutes of their x 2 blowout.

For BC fans if was the reward for suffering through the agonizing near misses of recent years, and theirs was the only section of the Garden which hadn't cleared out by the final siren. As a maroon and gold flag was waved in the balcony seats. Eagle senior Billy Switaj who stopped 31 Northeastern shots in the game, accepted his Eberly Trophy as the tourney's best goalie and freshman winger Bob Sweeney, who scored two goals last night and set up the typing and winning goals last week against Harvard was named MVP.

Harassment

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Sweeney started the BC avalanche carly in the game, taking a pass from Blossom the play was nearly a mirror image of the game tying goal versus the Crimson and beating Husky netminder Mark Davidner for a 1-0 lead.

Northeastern tried to answer back hitting every BC jursy in sight, but it was the Eagles' quickness and energetic fore checking that prevailed. They repeatedly relieved Husky blue liners of the puck in center ice or in their own zone, and built up a 3 -1 lead after 20 minutes.

Sweeney, trailing line mate David Livingston's breakaway early in the second stanza, scored on the rebound to make it 4-1 Several minutes later, the Huskies missed their last real opportunity for a rally when they failed to score, despite numerous good chances, on a power play.

Icing

Then BC effectively iced the contest, exploding for four goals in a 4:57 span, including McDonough's breakaway tally. The final goal of the offensive spree helped redeem, in a way, the frustrating Beanpot career of Eagle Co-Captain Mike O'Neil. In 1980, when the Huskies nipped BC in the final. O'Neil was on the ice for the decisive overtime goal, and was pictured in a widely-reprinted photo smashing his stick across the goalposts in anger after the winning goal. Now, with the BC offense pouring it on, he zoomed up the middle, took a pass from line mate Scott Harlow and slammed the disc past Davidner for the Eagles' final goal of the night.

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