Beanpot: Wahlstrom’s improved play lifts Boston College to the final

Oliver Wahlstrom assisted on the game-winner for BC against Harvard. (Richard Gagnon, Getty Images)

Boston College isn’t used to back-to-back years of Beanpot misery.

The Eagles made 36 title game appearances in the tournament’s first 66 years of existence, but Monday’s 2-1 win over Harvard propelled them into finale for the first time since current Vegas Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch scored the only goal of the game in overtime to beat Boston University in 2016.

BC captain Casey Fitzgerald (North Reading, Mass.) and his current senior classmates were freshmen when the Eagles raised the ‘Pot on the second Monday of February, and it was this year’s class of rookies that played a huge role in getting the job done on the TD Garden stage.

Freshmen Patrick Giles and Jack McBain scored the only goals BC would need, while Quincy, Mass., native Oliver Wahlstrom, who was one of three Eagle newcomers from the region skating in a Beanpot game for the first time, set up the latter classmate’s game-winner at 12:22 of the third period.