Northeastern men’s hockey (9-12-3, 4-9-3 HE) will take on No.1 Boston College (19-4-1, 12-3-1 HE) in the first round of the 72nd annual Beanpot tournament Feb. 3 at TD Garden.
The Huskies will look to three-peat their Beanpot title, as the Northeastern women’s hockey team did after they took down Boston University 4-0 Jan. 21 in their own championship game.
BC is coming off a seven-game win streak while the Huskies are on a two-game losing streak. However, when these two schools met earlier this season, they split the weekend.
The first game in Chestnut Hill ended in a 3-0 victory for the Eagles Nov. 22, 2024, but the next night resulted in a 4-2 victory for the Huskies at Matthews Arena.
The number of penalties in the Nov. 23 game clocked in at 10, the cross-town teams tending to not shy away from physicality. Although there were many shots in the power plays that followed these fouls, none hit the net.
Based on record, it looks as though BC will take the win in this matchup, but the Huskies have a history of upsetting high-ranked opponents, including the Eagles and No. 17/18 Quinnipiac University. This pattern includes Beanpot success, where an unranked Northeastern won the Beanpot title against the then-ranked No. 3 Boston University last year.
However, many of the contributors to last year’s success have departed, including forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, who transferred to Ohio State, as well as forward Justin Hryckowian and defenseman Hunter McDonald, who went to the pros.
Despite this, there was an influx of talent in freshman and transfers as well as previous players who have stepped up, which could give the Huskies a chance. Freshman forward Joe Connor has collected four goals this season, the fifth most on the team, and five assists, the eighth most on the team. Junior defenseman Joqauim Lemay, a transfer from University of Nebraska Omaha, has collected a goal and four assists and helped Northeastern build strength in the back with 23 blocks this season. Another transfer, Jake Boltmann, a graduate student defenseman from Notre Dame, has taken a goal, seven assists and 37 blocks so far this season.
Despite these changes, the Huskies have managed to receive votes within the top 20, but have not been able to sneak inside the rankings so far this season.
Before the Huskies and the Eagles face off, Harvard University (7-11-2, 6-7-2 ECAC) will take on No. 10 Boston University (14-9-1, 10-5-1 HE) at 5 p.m.
The Huskies have not played Harvard this season and the last time they matched up was in the 2024 Beanpot semifinals, where Northeastern came out on top 3-2 in overtime.
The Huskies have also not played Boston University yet, but will face them in league play Feb. 21 and 22. The last time Northeastern took on the Terriers was in a 2-4 loss in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
BU and Harvard will look to take back the title for the first time since 2022 and 2017, respectively. Both of the semifinal games as well as the championship and consolation games will be held at TD Garden, and The Huntington News will be following the game on Instagram with live updates.
