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Once again, it’s Boston College vs. Boston University for the Beanpot title
It marks the 23rd time the teams will play for the title, with BU holding a 12-10 edge.
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Strange as it seems, Monday night’s matchup between Boston College and Boston University will mark the first time the two schools have faced off in the championship game of the men’s Beanpot since 2016.
The programs have combined for 51 titles (31 for BU, 20 for BC), including a stretch from 1994 through 2016 where one or the other took home the coveted trophy.
But then Harvard ended a 24-year skid by winning the 2017 title, followed by Northeastern’s run of six straight finals, which included five championships, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic that cancelled the 2021 tournament.
That ends when the two longtime adversaries meet in the title game of the 72nd edition of the tournament at TD Garden. It marks the 23rd time the teams will play for the title, with BU holding a 12-10 edge.
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“I honestly didn’t know that,” said BU captain Ryan Greene. “That makes it a little more crazy, but we’re just trying to focus and take it as any other game and just be ready to go by puck drop.”
Both BU and BC took care of business in the first round, with the Terriers scoring seven unanswered goals after spotting Harvard a 1-0 lead to come away with a 7-1 win. BC followed by making sure there would be no seventh consecutive trip to the final for the Huskies, rolling to a convincing 8-2 win that saw eight Eagles light the lamp.
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BC enters the matchup at 21-4-1, winners of nine in a row, including Friday night’s 4-2 win at New Hampshire in which the Eagles trailed 2-1 in the third before rallying for the win. BC is at the top of the PairWise ratings, the system used to select and seed the 16-team field for the NCAA tournament, and has outscored opponents 92-44, including 37-10 in the third period.
Sophomore Ryan Leonard’s 23 goals are tops in the country. Classmate Gabe Perreault leads Hockey East with 25 assists for a BC squad making its first appearance in the championship game since 2019. The Eagles last won the title in 2016.
“It’s definitely going to be a new experience,” said captain Eamon Powell. “This is our first time playing in the second game, but this group has played in a lot of big games, obviously throughout the postseason last year, with the same circumstance as well. It’s going to be super loud in a packed building, it’s going to be a close matchup.”
BU comes in at 15-10-1, having dropped a 2-1 decision at Merrimack Friday night. Jack Harvey had the lone goal and has scored in three straight games for the Terriers, who dipped slightly to 10th in the PairWise.
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“We have to play a certain way if we want to have success,” said BU coach Jay Pandolfo, whose squad last took home the trophy in 2022. “We learned a lesson on Friday. We’ve learned a lot of lessons as a team this year, and I do like the way our group responds. So we’ve just got to make sure we’re playing together, competing, and playing the right way.”
Cole Hutson has recorded a point in nine of his last 10 games (5-12–17 in that span), He leads all NCAA freshmen defensemen in points (27) and assists (20). Classmate Cole Eiserman leads all NCAA rookies with 15 goals.
Mikhail Yegorov took the loss in net in his fourth start since joining BU for the second semester. On Sunday, Pandolfo confirmed that Yegorov will be back between the pipes. Selected by the New Jersey Devils in the second round (49th overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft, Yegorov has a 1.51 goals against average, and a .940 save percentage. He has allowed just one goal at 5-on-5 play in his four starts.
He will be facing the Eagles for the second time, having made his NCAA debut at Conte Forum as BC completed a two-game sweep with a 2-0 win on Jan. 25. He let in a power-play goal in the opening minute, but stopped 23 of 24 shots.
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“To have his first college game in that atmosphere was really impressive, especially when we scored early,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “For him to have that goal go in, and then to play the rest of the game rock solid like he did, it’s just a great testament to his mental strength, as well as how good of a goalie he is.
“We know we’re going to have to get traffic in front of them, crash the net hard, and hopefully pick up some rebounds, tips, because he seems to save everything that he sees.”
BC counters with sophomore Jacob Fowler, who leads Hockey East in wins (19), shutouts (6), and save percentage (.936), and is second in goals-against average (1.66).
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with the game airing on NESN.
Northeastern (9-13-3) will take on Harvard (7-13-2) in the consolation game at 4:30 p.m. The Huskies had a bye this weekend and haven’t played since the loss to BC, while Harvard is coming off a loss at Dartmouth. It marks the third straight tournament where the two teams will meet.
The Huskies won the previous two meetings, capturing the 2023 Beanpot championship in a shootout, and rallying to defeat the Crimson in overtime in last year’s first-round matchup.
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