BOSTON – For the Northeastern men's hockey team, twenty-eight years was an unprecedentedly long time to have had to wait to hoist the cherished Beanpot trophy above its heads. Harvard barely had to wait at all, winning the inaugural Beanpot title in December of 1952. Boston College managed to steal the crown from the Crimson in just the second Beanpot tournament the following season, while Boston University successfully celebrated its first championship four years after that in 1958.
By the time the 1980 tournament rolled around at the Boston Garden, the Huskies were determined to make a breakthrough and end their Beanpot championship drought.
Northeastern (3-11-0) entered the event with a 9-45-0 all-time record in the Beanpot, having advanced to the title game only twice in program history (1958, 1967). Pitted against the two-time defending champion Boston University Terriers (9-8-0) in the first round, the Huskies were once again written off as a tournament long shot.
Despite the stage being set for an upset, BU was quick to open the scoring in the semifinal game on Feb. 4, 1980, as Bill Cotter took the air right out of the NU fan base with an unassisted goal at 5:03 in the first period. Northeastern, though, would come roaring back late in the first, and a goal by Mark Derby at 14:09 tied the game at 1-1.
Less than a minute later, Sandy Beadle scooted a shot off the sticks of Dave Archambault and Paul Iskyan past Terriers goaltender Bob Barich, giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead. With 24 seconds to play in the period, Wayne Turner, Northeastern's leading scorer during the 1979-80 season, netted his 11th goal of the year, sending the Huskies into the intermission with a 3-1 advantage.
Northeastern's defense was strong enough to hold Boston University to 17 shots on goal through two periods, but struggled being able to stop BU forward Grant Goegan. With the help of Tony Meagher and Daryl MacLeod, Goegan brought the Terriers even at 3-3, scoring at 17:46 in the second stanza, and again just 10 seconds off the opening faceoff in the third period.
Gerry Cowie put the Huskies back in front, 4-3, with a goal at 2:17 in the third, but the Terriers appeared to have figured out NU goaltender George Demetroulakas, scoring twice midway through the period to take a 5-4 advantage. With Northeastern fans sensing another unfortunate Beanpot defeat, Turner rallied the troops, and landed the game-tying goal with under three minutes to play in regulation.
Against all odds, NU came out firing during the extra period, ripping four shots during the first five minutes of play, while holding the Terriers to just one. Celebration was not far off for the Huskies, as Rod Yaworski fed a pass to Paul Filipe, who found John Montgomery at 5:09 in overtime to send Northeastern through to the Beanpot finals for the first time in 13 years with a 6-5 win.
The Huskies' victory against Boston University came with the prize of dueling Boston College in the Beanpot championship on Feb. 11, 1980. Already a nine-time tournament champion, the Eagles held a dominating 18-4 edge in head-to-head Beanpot games against NU, including a 7-2 win during the 1979 semifinals.
Bill Army gave Boston College a 1-0 lead at 8:26 in the opening stanza of the championship game, but Cowie managed to keep the Huskies close, scoring the equalizer just 31 seconds later. BC had plans to drop Northeastern early, and a second goal by Army followed by another goal from Paul Hammer put the Eagles in front, 3-1, after one period.
NU did not wait long during the second period to claw back into the game. Larry Parks scored just 48 seconds after the opening faceoff to cut the BC lead to 3-2, and teammate Paul McDougall leveled the game at 3-3 with a goal coming at 3:47 in the period.
Bobby Hehir all but sealed the Eagles' 10th Beanpot title when he scored the go-ahead goal at 6:27 in the third, but a costly penalty late in the period awarded the Huskies a power-play opportunity. With the man advantage, McDougall capitalized and scored the game-tying goal on a pass by Sandy Beadle with less than four minutes to play.
Two years removed from losing a pair of overtime games during the 1978 tournament, Northeastern added a new chapter to its Beanpot script less than three minutes into the extra period. Assisted by Parks and Dale Ferdinandi, Wayne "Beanpot" Turner found the back of the net at 2:47 in overtime with assists, bringing the Beanpot trophy to Huntington Avenue for the first time in program history. Archambault became the first Husky to win the tournament's Most Valuable Player award, while Demetroulakos joined Ed Arrington (1978) as the program's two Eberly Award winners.
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