The Terrier men defend their 2022 Beanpot Championship Monday against Northeastern in a rematch of the 69th Beanpot final. Photo by Kyle Prudhomme

2023 Beanpot

Boston Hockey Heaven: Guide to the 2023 Men’s and Women’s Beanpot Tournaments

BU’s men’s squad looks to defend its trophy, women’s aims for an upset and another title shot

Boston’s favorite hockey tournament is back. On Monday, February 6, the Boston University men’s and women’s teams will both face Northeastern in the opening round of the annual Beanpot Tournaments (the men’s 70th, women’s 44th). The No. 3 ranked men will play at 8 pm Monday at TD Garden, and the women face the Huskies the next day at 4 pm at Boston College’s Conte Forum. 

Two former Terriers will be honored as inductees to the Beanpot Hall of Fame: Abby Cook (CGS’18, Sargent’20) played in three Beanpots in her final three seasons at BU, including the 2019 Beanpot victory and the 2020 Beanpot finals. Matt Grzelcyk (COM’16) will be inducted alongside his father, John Grzelcyk, a longtime member of TD Garden’s bullgang, the crew famous for flipping the venue’s ice to parquet in record time. Matt Grzelcyk is being honored for his heroics in the 2015 Beanpot, where he scored BU’s tournament-winning overtime goal over Northeastern. 

Before the pucks drop, here’s what you need to know about this year’s Beanpot tournaments. 

Boston University men’s hockey

The BU men are the winningest team in Beanpot history and they return to TD Garden Monday at 8 pm looking to defend the hardware they won last year. After taking down Harvard 4-3 in the semifinals, the Terriers bested Northeastern 1-0 to win their 31st Beanpot trophy. After 57 nail-biting minutes of defensive hockey, forward Jaime Armstrong (CAS’23) connected with Dylan Peterson (COM’24) to score the game’s only goal, ending Northeastern’s streak of three consecutive Beanpot titles. 

No. 3 BU is the highest ranked team entering play Monday, holding first place in Hockey East. The Terriers are 20-6-0, and have won eight of their last nine games, including seven straight. The team is led on the scoresheet by two Hobey Baker nominees: Matt Brown (Questrom’23), who has 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists), and Lane Hutson (CAS’26), who has 35 points (9 goals, 26 assists). The Terriers boast the highest scoring offense in college hockey, averaging 4.2 goals per game. In the crease for the Terriers this season has been Drew Commesso (CAS’24). This will be his first Beanpot appearance, since he was playing for Team USA at the 2022 Olympics for last year’s Beanpot. In his stead, Vinny Duplessis (CAS’24) shut out Northeastern in the final. 

BU’s first year head coach Jay Pandolfo (CAS’96) has won Beanpots with BU both as a player, in 1995 and 1996, and last year as associate head coach under Albie O’Connell (CAS’99). “It’s always big being a part of this program and with the expectations,” Pandolfo says. “We’ve had some pretty good success in the Beanpot, so to be a part of it as a head coach—I’m looking forward to it, and every year you enter hoping to win it, so that’s the mindset this year.” 

Northeastern men’s hockey

BU ended the Huskies’ three-year streak of Beanpot victories last year, so they will be seeking revenge for the narrow 2022 loss. The Huskies enjoyed a 28-save performance from backup goalie T. J. Semptimphelter in the final. Devon Levi—winner of the 2021-2022 Marc Richter Award, given to the most outstanding goalie in college hockey—was playing for Team Canada in the 2022 Olympics.

A 2021-2022 Hobey Baker finalist, Levi is currently sixth in the country in save percentage and is once again a Hobey Baker nominee. On offense, the Huskies have another Hobey Baker nominee in Aidan McDonough. Northeastern is 13-10-3 and entered the season ranked No. 9 after exiting the 2022 NCAA Tournament in the first round. 

The Huskies, now No. 20, and the Terriers have met twice this season, splitting their November series. Northeastern was tabbed to win the Hockey East preseason, and currently sits second behind BU after a 2-1 victory over Boston College on January 31. 

Boston College men’s hockey

Boston College will face Harvard University in a rematch of 2022’s third-place game, which ended in a tie, at 5 pm on February 6. The Eagles, who last won the Beanpot in 2016, hold the longest Beanpot drought in the tournament. BC fell to Northeastern 3-1 in the 2022 semifinal before playing Harvard. 

The Eagles are 9-10–6 entering play, the only squad in the Beanpot without a ranking in either collegiate poll. They were swept by BU in the Battle of Commonwealth Avenue, losing 6-3 at Agganis Arena on January 27 and 3-1 at Conte Forum the next night. The Eagles recently lost their matchup against Northeastern 2-1 on January 31. 

Leading the Eagles in scoring are Nikita Nesterenko and Hobey Baker nominee Cutter Gauthier. Jerry York, college hockey’s all-time winningest head coach, retired after the 2022 season, so the Eagles will play in their first Beanpot without him since 1994. Behind the bench for the Eagles is first year head coach Greg Brown, who was part of York’s staff from 2004 to 2018 and saw seven Beanpot championships. 

Harvard men’s hockey

Harvard meets Boston College in the early game at TD Garden Monday. The Crimson have won 11 Beanpot titles, most recently in 2017, where they bested  BU 6-3. In 2022, the Crimson fell to BU 4-3 in the semifinal, before tying BC 3-3 for third-place. 

Harvard enters this year’s Beanpot ranked No. 8 in college hockey, with a 15-6-1 record, and is led by Sean Farrell, with 34 points in 22 games. Minding the net for Harvard is Mitchell Gibson. 

Although they have not yet faced BC this season, the Crimson are 1-1 against Beanpot teams, losing 2-1 in overtime to BU on December 30, and winning 8-4 over Northeastern on January 1. 

Boston University women’s hockey

The BU women’s squad will take the ice against No. 5 Northeastern Tuesday, February 7, at 4 pm at Boston College’s Conte Forum. The Terriers won the Beanpot in 2019, their first and only title as a varsity program. In 2022, they lost to Harvard 4-1 in the semifinal, then lost the third-place game to Northeastern 3-0. 

Although owning the fewest Beanpot titles, the Terriers seem to be heating up at the right time. Winning six straight, they conquered ranked opponents No. 11/12 Providence via shootout on January 17, No. 11/13 Vermont in overtime on January 28, and No. 15 UConn via shootout on February 3. Julia Nearis (CAS’23, COM’23) leads the Terriers with 19 points (10 goals, 9 assists), followed by Christina Vote (CAS’25, COM’25) with 16 points, and Lacey Martin (CAS’24, Sargent’24) and captain Nadia Mattivi (Questrom’23) with 15 points apiece. Martin scored the sole goal for the Terriers in last year’s Beanpot game against Harvard. Minding the net for the Terriers is Andrea Brändli (MET’23), whose .938 save percentage is good for the fourth best in college hockey. 

The Terriers are 10-15-3, but are optimistic about winning a second Beanpot title. Mattivi remembers playing in the 2020 Beanpot final at home: “Walter Brown Arena was packed, that’s probably the best memory that I have at BU, even though we lost,” she says. “There are gonna be a lot of fans and a lot of attention, but we’re gonna focus on playing well. We want to win it this year.” 

Northeastern women’s hockey

At 25-2-1, No. 5 Northeastern is the team to beat at Conte Forum this year. They enter as the only team in the women’s tournament with a national ranking, facing BU at 4 pm on Tuesday. The opening game is a rematch of the 2020 Beanpot final, where the Huskies bested the Terriers in double overtime, good for their 17th Beanpot title. 

This season, the Huskies sit atop the Hockey East standings, 17 points ahead of second place Vermont. They lead college hockey in scoring defense, allowing opponents less than a goal per game. Their defensive success can be credited in large part to goalie Gwyneth Philips, who leads the NCAA in goals against average and save percentage. 

The Terriers and Huskies have met once this season, on January 8, with Northeastern trouncing BU 6-0. Head-to-head, the Huskies are 17-5-4 over the Terriers. “Northeastern is definitely a good, good team,” Mattivi says. “We lost a month ago, and obviously that wasn’t the result that we wanted, but we’re working on it and ways to beat their forecheck.” 

Boston College women’s hockey

Boston College plays host to the 44th Women’s Beanpot and will face defending champion Harvard in the second semifinal game at 7:30 pm. The Eagles have eight Beanpot trophies, winning most recently in 2018, completing a Beanpot three-peat beginning in 2016. With each of the four teams winning in the last four years, the Eagles’ Beanpot hopes have gone on the longest. 

BC’s meeting with Harvard is a rematch of last year’s final, where the Eagles fell to the Crimson. BC would never lead in the final, but they didn’t go down by more than one goal at any point. A series of goals by Harvard, followed by equalizers by BC, would finally end in a 5-4 Crimson victory. 

The 2023 Eagles are 16-12-1, led in points by senior Hannah Bilka and sophomore Abby Newhook. Newhook, whose brother Alex was on the BC men’s team from 2019 to 2021 and skates today for the Colorado Avalanche, scored in both Beanpot games last year. Defending the pipes for the Eagles is Abigail Levy, whose averages put her third in the nation. 

Harvard women’s hockey 

Rounding out the women’s Beanpot field is the defending champion Harvard Crimson, which won a thrilling back-and-forth final against Boston College in 2022 to claim their first Beanpot in five years, 15th overall. 

With a 7-14-3 record, the Crimson, unlike Northeastern, BU, and BC, does not have a top-five goaltender. Nine seniors graduated in 2022, including goaltender Becky Dutton.  This year’s seniors are making their impact on the scoresheet, however, as Harvard’s top-two points leaders are Anne Bloomer and Kristin Della Rovere.

Harvard is 18-10 against Boston College in Beanpot games. The Crimson won seven consecutive Beanpots from 1998 to 2005, and this year’s team is looking to notch their second in as many tournaments with a title defense Tuesday at Conte Forum. 

Both Men’s Beanpot semifinal games are on Monday, February 6, at 5:30 and 8 pm, and will be televised on NESN, as will the men’s championship game, starting at 7:30 pm on Monday, February 13, both nights at TD Garden. Tickets for the Men’s Beanpot are sold out. Both Women’s Beanpot semifinal games are on Tuesday, February 7, starting at 4 pm with BU facing Northeastern. The women’s championship game begins at 7:30 pm on February 14. Both nights’ games will be played at BC’s Conte Forum. Fans can buy tickets for the women’s tournament online here. Follow BU’s teams @TerrierHockey and @TerrierWHockey on Twitter.