By Cary Shuman
They are the best women’s college hockey team in America. They have the best player, the best coach and the best goaltender.
Tuesday night the Boston College women’s team backed up its No. 1 ranking with an impressive 7-0 victory over No. 6 Northeastern in the Women’s Beanpot final at Walter Brown Arena.
Burt, the Eagles’ sophomore goaltender, had 22 saves in the victory. Following the game in an on-ice ceremony, Burt received the Joe Bertagna Most Outstanding Goaltender Award for posting back-to-back shutouts against Harvard and Northeastern.
Burt talked about receiving the major award and keeping Northeastern star Kendall Coyne off the scoresheet.
“It’s definitely an honor,” Burt told reporters at the post-game press conference. “There are four great goalie in the tournament. But I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today without my defense. It does get overlooked, our six D. I wouldn’t be where I am without them. They’re the ones that are clearing the second-chance opportunities and allowing me to see the puck. They’re clearing the bodies out in front, so I owe a lot of it to them.”
Asked about Coyne, who is tied with BC’s Alex Carpenter as the nation’s leading scorer, Burt said, “A lot of that is on our defense. They’re the ones that are minimizing her opportunities. She shoots from everywhere and our defense really locked her down back there.”
BC coach Katie Crowley, whose team is 30-0, said the defense was stellar, backboned by Burt in net.
“We’re able to play all six defensemen back there and obviously Katie was unbelievable in these two Beanpot games,” said Crowley. “Katie made the saves we needed her to make. I thought she was phenomenal.”
Northeastern coach Dave Flint was also impressed by Burt’s performance in net.
“She [Burt] made a couple of big saves when it was 2-0 and then we hit the crossbar shorthanded – I felt like if one those had stuck in the net that we could have changed the complexion of the game, but she was solid all night and their defense does a good job. I thought she was very solid.”
BC senior Dana Travigno led the offense with a hat trick and an assist. She was named the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Senior Alex Carpenter, the reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner as the most outstanding college player in the nation, had an assist in the game.
Lynn fans were on hand to support Burt and the undefeated Eagles.