Beanpot Championship Game: Dog Pound, Alums, Terrier Nation Ready to Make Noise

A sea of scarlet and white rejoicing over No. 3 Boston University’s victory over No. 1 Boston College in the 71st Beanpot semifinal January 5. Photo by Eliza Nuestro
Beanpot Championship Game: Dog Pound, Alums, Terrier Nation Ready to Make Noise
From TD Garden to watch parties across the country, all eyes will be on the Terriers’ push for 32nd tournament title
The action at TD Garden Monday night won’t just be on the ice.
When the No. 3–ranked Boston University men’s ice hockey team faces off against rival Northeastern in the 71st Beanpot Tournament championship game at 7:30 pm, the BU Dog Pound section will be rocking, as will the crowds gathering at 17 watch parties across the country. The Terriers will be vying for their 32nd Beanpot trophy, their 2nd in three years, after winning it in 2022.
The Dog Pound, the group of students that attend every BU hockey game, carry signs, wave flags, and lead chants for the Terriers. For Aaron Fox (COM’24), Dog Pound president, leading the student section feels like the culmination of his time at BU. His parents, Jonathan (COM’94) and Julie [Bach] (Wheelock’95), met in the BU Pep Band. The Foxes have season tickets at Agganis Arena, and Aaron has followed BU in the Beanpot all his life.
For years he was too young to stay up to watch the Beanpot (Monday being a school night). But now he’s the one waving the big BU flag in the student section even as the game often approaches midnight.

“Anytime you hear that student section chanting your name, it’s one of the coolest feelings. It kind of gives me chills,” says BU alternate captain Luke Tuch (COM’24), who scored in BU’s 4-3 victory over No. 1 Boston College in the Beanpot semifinal on Monday. “It just shows the support of our student section, and anytime they’re in a building or at TD Garden, they do an amazing job.”
Fox says the Dog Pound’s hard work, from in-game chants to postgame poster nights, are all made worthwhile when they hear the impact they have on players like Tuch.
“It’s incredible that they have our back the same way that we have their back every single week,” he says. “At the end of the day, we’re fans of the team, and we want to see them win, but if we can do something for them—start a chant for them or make them specifically feel good—I feel like we’re almost fans on a deeper level in that way.”

Fox and the Dog Pound have begun preparing for their own battle next Monday: going chant-for-chant with the formidable (and somewhat similarly named) DogHouse of Northeastern University. Fox says BU students with tickets to Monday’s final should arrive early, and most important, be loud. The Dog Pound is currently doing a ticket exchange with other schools for students who missed out on Beanpot tickets. Visit @bu_dogpound on Instagram for more information.
Even Ken Freeman, BU president ad interim, has caught the Beanpot bug. He attended the recent Women’s Beanpot tournament final, held for the first time at TD Garden, and he was back again to watch BU’s victory over BC in last Monday’s Men’s Beanpot semifinal.
“It has been wonderful seeing the community come together in support of our team,” Freeman says. “A tremendous source of pride, the energy in the stands in support of BU is amazing.”
While the raucous Dog Pound reverberates from the TD Garden rafters, generations of former student-section spectators across the United States are preparing to show their support. BU Development & Alumni Relations plans to host 17 watch parties for Terrier alumni. Ted Fioraliso (COM’07) hosted nearly 60 members of the Washington D.C. Alumni Network at Penn Quarter Sports Tavern in downtown Washington for BU’s semifinal triumph over BC last Monday.
“What’s great to see is that we get alums of all ages, backgrounds, who went to all different schools at BU,” Fioraliso, the network’s communications chair, says. “It’s so nice because everyone has a common thing to talk about, which is their time at BU. Maybe somebody’s 40 years older than you, but you lived in the same dorm. They get to come together at an event and talk about their time at BU and their love for the Terriers.”

For Monday’s Beanpot final, Fioraliso’s DC watch party will return to Penn Quarter Sports Tavern, where a signed Jack Parker (Questrom’68, Hon.’97) sweater from when the Terriers last won the NCAA championship (2009) is affixed to the wall.
(Find more details on the 17 BU-centric alum watch parties here.)
“Our community came out in force to support the Terriers in the first round,” says Erika Jordan, BU vice president of alumni engagement. “It was truly a special night as alumni across the country and from so many classes gathered to cheer on the team. We’re thrilled to be able to keep the momentum going and give our alumni opportunities to show their Terrier pride with another round of watch parties for the championship game.”
In addition to watch parties, Development & Alumni Relations is hosting the first-ever Beanpot Giving Challenge, where BU and Northeastern have competed throughout the Beanpot season to show school spirit and support students. You can learn more and donate here.
With the support of the Dog Pound echoing throughout TD Garden and across the United States, the BU men’s ice hockey team will take on Northeastern on Monday, February 12, at 7:30 pm, in the Beanpot tournament final; tickets are sold out. New this year, the game will be broadcast exclusively in New England via NESN. Outside of New England, the game can be watched via ESPN+ and via TSN+ in Canada.
Comments & Discussion
Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.