SPORTS
B8 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2017
9\jk 8k_c\k\ :flgc\j
@HEIGHTSSPORTS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Bonzie Scheme Bonzie Colson led Notre Dame to a comeback win against BC in the same gym where he grew up.
8EE89<C JK<<C<
Well, we’ve had another Valentine’s Day come and go, and Bryce Harper still didn’t stand under my window with flowers and a boom box playing an assortment of my favorite songs. (It may be because he’s married, and not to me, but I’ll worry about that later.) Amid the numerous social media posts of happy couples, I was lucky enough to see some posts from everyone’s favorite athletes wishing their significant others/spouses a happy Valentine’s Day. These posts were very cute, and most of them made me smile, but they also got me thinking—who is the ultimate sports power couple? I set out to rank the Top 10 sports power couples, combining my love of sports with my adoration of celebrity gossip. While some couples on the list are comprised of two current or former professional athletes, most contain one athlete and one other public figure. Several different factors went into the rankings, including athletic achievement, public opinion of the couple, and, some might say most importantly of all, my personal opinion of the couple. Bonus points went to couples who publicly said sweet and supportive things about one another. Honorable Mention: Justin Dunn and Kaliya Johnson How could I rank the best sports couples without including a couple made on this very campus? Justin Dunn and Kaliya Johnson both left in 2016, and both made their mark on campus through sports. Dunn pitched for Birdball with a stellar 2016 season, and is currently in the New York Mets organization. Johnson played for women’s hockey and currently plays for the Connecticut Whale of the National Women’s Hockey League. The former Eagles frequently post sweet snapshots of one another on social media, proving that their love has continued after graduation. 10: Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen I would like the record to reflect that I am only including Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen because I suspect I would be crucified for leaving them off the list. Outside of New England, this power couple’s popularity is lukewarm at best. But there is absolutely no denying that both Brady and Bündchen are highly accomplished in their fields. Brady, in case you missed it, won his fifth Super Bowl two weekends ago, cementing his place as the best quarterback in NFL history. Bündchen, meanwhile, is the highest-paid supermodel in the world, having earned more than $30 million in 2016 alone. Plus, even though she isn’t an athlete herself, the Brazil native participated in the opening ceremonies for the Rio Olympics. 9. Matt and Sarah Ryan Like Dunn and Johnson, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and former basketball player Sarah Ryan (née Marshall) met while students at BC. According to Sarah, they were just 18 when they met—and have been together ever since, fulfilling the
AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR
CELINE LIM / HEIGHTS STAFF
9P I@C<P FM<I<E; Jgfikj <[`kfi With under two minutes remaining, Jordan Chatman found himself wide open in the corner with a chance to make it a one-point game. Mo Jeffers had just stolen the ball and passed to Ky Bowman, who pushed the pace and dished it to the sharpshooter standing all by himself in front of the bench. But before the reserves could erupt in their signature 3-point celebration, Chatman’s shot clanked off iron, his third brick of the night. Head coach Jim Christian couldn’t help but smile—his team had done everything right except execute. A minute later, Boston College men’s basketball saw another opportunity to steal its first win against No. 25 Notre Dame in 13 years, and its first victory against a Top 25 team in the Christian era. Down by two points, the Eagles needed a Notre Dame miss in order to have a shot at regaining the lead. And that’s what they got: The Fighting Irish couldn’t find any openings in the BC defense, settling for a deep, contested 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock. But the Eagles, sneakily one of the better defensive rebounding teams in the country, failed to box everyone out.
V.J. Beachem broke free and grabbed the rebound with 25 seconds to play, essentially sealing the game for the Irish. This time, there was no grin from Christian. After a free-throw shooting clinic in the final seconds of regulation, Notre Dame (29-7, 9-5 Atlantic Coast) escaped Conte Forum with a 84-76 victory, battling back from a 10-point halftime deficit and extending BC’s (9-18, 2-12) losing streak to double digits. Fittingly, the two biggest contributors for the Irish both had connections to the Heights. Bonzie Colson, who led Notre Dame with 20 points on 9of-12 shooting, practically grew up in Conte Forum when his dad served as an assistant under former head coach Al Skinner. Colson frequented the sidelines during the golden age of BC basketball, looking up to players like Troy Bell, Jared Dudley, and Craig Smith as he developed his love of the sport. He even held birthday parties at Conte, inviting friends to watch a game with him before retreating into the practice gym for cake and presents. “I give him credit,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. “This is the third
See MBB vs. ND, B7
9P :?I@J EFP<J ?\`^_kj JkX]] The crowd in Conte Forum, a disappointingly equal mixture of Boston College and Notre Dame supporters, rose to its feet in anticipation. After squandering a 10-point halftime lead and falling behind by as many as eight points, BC needed just one more stop in order to get a chance to tie or take the lead in the closing seconds. “I’m going to be honest with you,” head coach Jim Christian said afterwards. “We would’ve gone for three and the win.” As time dwindled down on the shot clock, Notre Dame’s Steve Vasturia launched an errant 3-pointer from the wing. Clanging off the rim, the shot was deflected by Rex Pfleuger, the player Jordan Chatman should’ve more aggressively boxed out on the play. Senior forward V.J. Beachem corralled the loose ball for the Irish, dashing the Eagles’ hopes of a victory in Tuesday night’s edition of the Holy War, as BC dropped its 10th-straight conference game, 84-76. “The blockout is the game play,” Christian said. “I don’t care what you’ve done the whole game, you’ve got to get that rebound.”
Surprisingly one of the nation’s best defensive rebounding outfits—despite regularly starting a severely undersized frontcourt, BC (9-18, 2-12 Atlantic Coast) entered Tuesday night’s contest ranked 10th in the nation in defensive rebounding rate per kenpom.com—the Eagles fell victim to one of the ACC’s smallest teams at the worst possible moment. Though the rebounding snafu closed the curtains on the BC’s hopes of a Valentine’s Day surprise, it was merely the final act in a second-half collapse that allowed Notre Dame (20-7, 9-5) to avoid a humiliating loss despite not holding a lead in the game until the 12:42 mark of the second half. A first half in which the Eagles scored 49 points—the most the team has scored in an opening half this season—and assisted on 13-of-17 made field goals ultimately went to waste. Two Up Bowman’s Patient Attack Bowman had an extremely efficient game on Tuesday night, scoring 29 points on just 15 shot attempts, drilling 5-of-11 three-pointers and sinking all eight free throws he took. But perhaps the most impressive aspect of his performance
See One Play Away, B7
See Love in Sports, B7 MEN’S HOCKEY
8]k\i :fekifm\ij`Xc Ef$>fXc# Pfib 8`ij Gfjk$>Xd\ =iljkiXk`fej <X^c\j Ô e`j_ cXjk `e 9\Xegfk ]fi Ô ijk k`d\ j`eZ\ (00* 9P D@:?8<C JLCC@M8E <[`kfi$`e$:_`\] BOSTON — Last season, Boston College men’s hockey was the toast of the town. With a dominant offense and powerful defense led by future NHL stars—not to mention Mike Richter Award winner Thatcher Demko in net—BC began its march to a 25th Frozen Four appearance in the Beanpot Tournament. Against archrival Boston University, the Eagles won a thrilling overtime game with a goal by Alex Tuch, the first 1-0 final in the tournament’s then-64-year history. Now, only one year later, the Eagles are on the bottom. It’s a place they haven’t been since Jerry York became the head coach. For the first time since 1993, BC finished last in the Beanpot, a 4-2 defeat
INSIDE
SPORTS
to Northeastern. But it wasn’t without immense controversy. Tied at two with 73 seconds left, the Eagles (18-12-2, 13-4-1 Hockey East) led a bull rush toward the Northeastern (13-12-5, 6-9-3) end of the ice. After multiple attempts on Ryan Ruck in goal, the Eagles pushed the puck out to David Cotton on the left side. With two
BEANPOT
2017
swings, Cotton forced it into the net for what appeared to be a go-ahead goal. Immediately, Cotton, who had scored in the first period from the left circle on a sharp angle, began to celebrate with his linemates as BC prepared to escape from a game in which it had again been outplayed in the first two periods. But Northeastern’s Jim Madigan
wasn’t convinced. “As the goal was scored, I was calling for interference,” Madigan said. “It was clear from my vantage point.” The boys in black and white agreed with the Huskies’ brash, sometimes profanity-laden head coach. After about two minutes of review, the referees waved it off. They determined that Ruck had been interfered with by a BC forward, forcing him out of position to allow Cotton to score. After the game, the normally mildmannered York expressed his discontent that the referees believed his player interfered with Ruck—rather, he believes that a forward was pushed into Ruck by one of Northeastern’s defenders, and was therefore not a cause to call back the goal. Though he often strays away from contentious topics, York did not hold back from his opinion of the referees’ determination. “I think we had a winning goal and now we’re going to do 5-on-6 to defend for the last minute or so of the game,”
See MHOK vs. NU, B6
JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Colin White (18) skates away from a Northeastern goal celebration in Monday’s game.
LACROSSE: BC Downs Terriers at Home
MEN’S HOCKEY: Huskies Edge Eagles
SCOREBOARD............................................ B7
Sam Apuzzo scored a game-high six goals against rival Boston University in a 13-11 win.........................................B6
BC played well on the penalty kill, but ultimately couldn’t stop Northeastern’s sixth-ranked offense.........................B6
EDITOR’S PICKS..................................... B7