2015 Beanpot: Boston College vs. Harvard Pregame Notes and Line Combinations

BOSTON -- Good afternoon and welcome inside TD Garden in Boston where the second day of the 63rd Beanpot Tournament finally commences, two weeks later than scheduled thanks to Mother Nature wreaking havoc on the Boston area. No. 16 Harvard and No. 9 Boston College are set for a 4:30 p.m. faceoff in the consolation game.

The two sides may be out of Beanpot title contention, but the game has major PairWise implications with NCAA Tournament selections looming in less than a month. BC remains well inside the bubble in the No. 9 slot, while Harvard is the second team out in a 16th-place tie with UMass Lowell.

Freshman defenseman Noah Hanifin assisted on both BC goals while sophomore Adam Gilmour scored and chipped in with an assist in Friday night's 2-2 tie with Lowell. Hanifin became the third and final Eagle rookie to reach the 20-point marker this season. Alex Tuch, the team's leading scorer with 26 points in 30 games, and Zach Sanford also achieved that mark in the past three weeks.

Harvard, which dropped a 4-3 double-overtime decision to Boston University in the semifinals on Feb. 3, is coming off a weekend split in the North Country this past weekend. After a 5-1 loss Friday night at St. Lawrence, North Reading, Mass. native junior Jimmy Vesey scored his team-best 20th goal and 40th point of the season in the second period to lift the Crimson to a 3-2 win at Clarkson.

Tonight marks the second meeting of the season and 122nd of all-time between the Eagles and Crimson. Sophomore Alexander Kerfoot scored a hat trick and added two assists to lead the Crimson to a 6-3 win on Nov. 11, breaking a nine-game losing streak against BC.

BC and Harvard have met in ten previous Beanpot consolation games but this marks their first since 2008. The Crimson have clinched third in each of the past four tournaments. Jerry York has not finished last in the Beanpot during his first 20 years as BC's head coach. The Eagles' five-year tournament winning streak will be snapped this year as they were defeated by Northeastern 2-1 in the opening round.

Here are tonight's lines:

CRIMSON (14-9-3, 10-7-3 ECAC)

Jimmy Vesey - Alexander Kerfoot - Kyle Criscuolo
Luke Esposito - Sean Malone - Brian Hart
Seb Lloyd - Tyler Moy - Jake Horton
Devin Tringale - Eddie Ellis - Phil Zielonka

Max Everson - Brayden Jaw
Victor Newell - Desmond Bergin
Wiley Sherman - Clay Anderson

Steve Michalek
Peter Traber

EAGLES (18-10-3, 11-6-3 Hockey East)

Quinn Smith - Michael Sit - Chris Calnan
Zach Sanford - Adam Gilmour - Alex Tuch
Ryan Fitzgerald - Destry Straight - Austin Cangelosi
Cam Spiro - Matthew Gaudreau - Teddy Doherty

Ian McCoshen - Noah Hanifin
Michael Matheson - Steve Santini
Scott Savage - Peter McMullen

Thatcher Demko
Brad Barone