Feb. 9, 2010

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BOSTON -- Boston College scored four unanswered goals, including the decisive tally off the stick of sophomore forward Barry Almeida at 4:22 of the third period, and junior goaltender John Muse withstood a late Boston University surge to lead the Eagles to the Beanpot Championship before a sellout crowd of 17,565 fans at TD Garden.

Muse earned both the Eberly Trophy (highest save percentage) and Beanpot MVP honors, stopping 64-of-67 shots (.955) in the two-game tournament to become the first BC goalie since Greg Taylor in 1994 to capture both honors.

The East Falmouth, Mass., native recorded 31 saves against the Terriers to earn his 11th win of the season and 54th of his career, surpassing Taylor and goalie coach Jim Logue for sole possession of fifth place on the school's win list.

Down by one goal after one period, BC scored three times in the middle frame before Springfield's Almeida added the team's fourth goal - the gamewinner - early in the third period to capture the title for the 15th time in the four-team tournament's 58-year history.

Reading's Steven Whitney netted a power-play goal at 1:01 of the second period and defenseman Carl Sneep lifted BC to a 2-1 lead on his eighth goal of the season at 12:33. Boxford's Chris Kreider ended the second-period scoring in dramatic fashion, beating Boston University defenseman Max Nicastro with an inside move and goalie Kieran Millan on a forehand-to-backhand breakaway for the goal for his seventh goal of the season at 15:48.

BU defenseman David Warsofsky scored in a shorthanded situation at the third period's nine-minute mark and Colby Cohen scored while skating with a six-on-four advantage to bring the Terriers within one goal - at 4-3 - with 2:46 on the clock.

Muse stopped 13 third-period shots, including Nick Bonino's quick wrap-around attempt with 19.8 seconds left, in the winning effort. He improves to 11-6-2 this season.

Millan finished with 28 saves in 58:02. He falls to 9-11-0.

Team Records: Boston College 16-8-2; Boston University 11-12-3

Game Notes: The Beanpot title is Boston College's 15th overall, second in the last three years, third in seven years, fourth in the last nine years and fourth under Jerry York, who improves to 20-12 overall in the four-team tournament ... BC improves to 8-12 against BU in Beanpot Championships ... Junior center Brian Gibbons tallied his 98th point, an assist on Whitney's goal, to extend his scoring streak to 11 games (5-14--19). The 11-game streak the longest since former Eagles Brock Bradford and Nathan Gerbe tallied streaks of 11 and 12 games, respectively, during the 2006-07 season ... Freshman Steven Whitney scored is third goal and eighth point in the last three games ... Cohen's power-play goal late in the third period snapped a string of 24 straight Eagle penalty kills ... BC's senior class improves to 8-7-2 in 17 meetings over the last four seasons ... Brian Gibbons was named Hockey East's Player of the Week earlier on Monday after he tallied six points - one goal and five assists - in victories over Harvard (2/1) and Massachusetts (2/5) last week.