BU’s women’s hockey team celebrates after defeating Northeastern 2-1 in the Dunkin’ Women’s Beanpot tournament’s semifinal game, January 13, at Walter Brown Arena. Photo by Julia Jacobsen

Ice Hockey

BU Tops Northeastern 2-1 in Overtime of Women’s Beanpot Semifinal

Terriers will vie for their third tournament championship next Tuesday against Harvard

Twenty games into her senior season on the Boston University women’s hockey team, captain Maeve Carey hadn’t recorded a single point. That all changed on Tuesday night, when Carey (COM’26) scored the overtime winning goal in the semifinal game of the Dunkin’ Women’s Beanpot tournament, sending the Terriers to the 47th annual Beanpot final at TD Garden on January 20.

In front of a record crowd of 2,281 people at Walter Brown Arena, the Terriers stunned seventh-ranked Northeastern 2-1 in what proved to be a nail-biter of a game.

“I was in shock,” Carey said. “I took a second to pause, and then I was like, ‘Oh my god, we just won, we just knocked out Northeastern.’”

BU is now set to advance to the championship bout against Harvard next Tuesday, at 7:30 pm, where they’ll vie for just their second Beanpot trophy as a varsity program (they won their first title as a club sport in 1981). Harvard beat Boston College 2-1 in the first of Tuesday’s semifinal games.

For the third consecutive season, the Terriers have reached the tournament’s final. They’ll be hoping for a different outcome this year, having fallen to the Huskies in 2024 and 2025.

“We talked about it in the locker room—we went through a lot of adversity in that game, and we just continued to push through all 65 minutes,” Carey said.

This was the 16th time BU and Northeastern have met in the tournament. The two teams played a home-and-home series earlier this season, with the Huskies winning both games by scores of 3-1 and 7-3.

Northeastern came out hot in the first period, utilizing its team speed to try and catch BU off balance; it worked, as Maeve Kelly (CAS’26) was called for an interference penalty just 49 seconds into regulation. The Huskies had numerous opportunities to capitalize on the player advantage, but the Terriers successfully avoided the penalty.

Despite looking a step behind early, it was BU who got on the board first, courtesy of Lexie Bertelsen’s second goal of the season. Bertelsen (COM’29) cleaned up a bouncing puck in front of Northeastern sophomore goaltender Lisa Jönsson to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead at 4:29 of the opening frame.

The Huskies didn’t fold after surrendering the lead to BU, and tied the game at 10:32 of the first. Northeastern senior Kristina Allard found senior captain Lily Shannon in front of the net, who poked the puck past Mari Pietersen (Sargent’27).

The second period was scoreless, but featured 20 minutes of physical, high-energy, back-and-forth play. Although the Terriers were outshot 12-10 in the frame, they generated plenty of quality chances—while Northeastern had its fair share too.

“They’re a fast team,” BU head coach Tara Watchorn (Sargent’12) said of the Huskies at a press conference following the game. “Our group did a really good job respecting that.”

BU’s line of Bertelsen, Greta Henderson (COM’27), and Riley Walsh (CAS’26) was excellent all night, wreaking havoc around the Huskies’ net. Watchorn has frequently referred to the trio as an “energy line” this season, and she did again after Tuesday’s win.

“Energy line—if you looked it up, they would be there in the dictionary,” she said.

Shannon was called for interference at the 18:41 mark, giving the Terriers a chance to regain the lead late in the period. BU’s power play—entering Tuesday’s game at 4.6 percent, the second-worst mark in the nation—generated several quality looks, but was unable to find the back of the net.

The Terriers carried their momentum from the end of the second period into the final frame of regulation. Kaileigh Quigg (Questrom’28) hit the post with a shot from the right wing early in the frame, while Bertelsen, Henderson, and Walsh continued their strong play, and a Sydney Healey (CAS’26) breakaway chance was shut down by Jönsson.

Pietersen, who last week was named Hockey East’s goaltender of the month for December, stood tall for BU in the third period to keep Northeastern off the board. She stopped 35 of 36 shots in the contest.

“Once again, Mari gave us a chance to win,” Watchorn said. “It was a combination of Mari doing her job and our D doing their job.”

The Terriers weathered a late push from the Huskies to force a five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime period. Healey drew a slashing penalty on a breakaway early in the extra session, providing BU a crucial power play, which Carey capitalized on, sending the Terriers to the championship game.

“Really proud of our group. In my time here as head coach, and this season for sure, one of the most proud moments I’ve had,” Watchorn said.

The Terriers will face off against Harvard in the Dunkin’ Women’s Beanpot championship, on Tuesday, January 20, at 7:30 pm at TD Garden. Both the championship and consolation games will be streamed on NESN. Purchase tickets for the tournament’s second round (consolation and championship) here. Follow the BU women’s team @TerrierWHockey on X.