Terriers Lose to BC 6-2 in Men’s Beanpot Championship
“We had power plays and just didn’t capitalize,” Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said following loss
A crowd of more than 18,000 was on hand to cheer for the Terriers or the Eagles during the 76th Men’s Beanpot championship at TD Garden February 9. Photo by Sheily Melgar
Terriers Lose to BC 6-2 in Men’s Beanpot Championship
“We had power plays and just didn’t capitalize,” Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said following loss
The Battle of Comm Ave took on a heightened urgency Monday night as Boston University faced off against rival Boston College in the 2026 Dunkin’ Men’s Beanpot Championship. The night saw the two teams squaring off for the 300th time—for bragging rights to one of college hockey’s most storied events.
Those in TD Garden’s upper bowl wearing scarlet and white headed for the exits early, as BU fell short of claiming its 33rd Beanpot championship, falling 6-2 to BC.
“Our team was having a tough time sustaining the same type of play for the whole game,” Head Coach Jay Pandolfo (CAS’96) said postgame. “It just started getting away from us.”
It was crucial that BU score early Monday night after losing to BC at Agganis Arena on January 30, and Brandon Svoboda (SHA’28) did just that at 2:15 of the first period.
Gavin McCarthy (SHA’27) sent a shot on goal that Eagles freshman Louka Cloutier couldn’t corral, and Svoboda tucked it home to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead.
BU had several chances to extend the lead in the opening frame, but wasn’t able to manage it, despite being awarded two power plays. Cole Eiserman (CAS’28) had the Terriers’ best look—a wide-open wrist shot from the slot—but couldn’t beat Cloutier, who made 27 saves in the contest.
“We had power plays and didn’t capitalize,” Pandolfo said. “You can just tell a little bit that deflates the bench, and then they get the one power play score right away.”
BC senior Andre Gasseau scored on the man advantage at 15:02 of the first period for the Eagles. Junior Ryan Conmy raced down the right side of the ice and found a wide-open Gasseau, who easily slipped the puck past Mikhail Yegorov (CAS’28).
Although the Terriers outplayed the Eagles in the first period, BC settled in to start the second, stretching the BU defense. The Eagles’ best chance came at 10:42, when senior Brady Berard broke in alone on goal. He attempted a forehand-to-backhand deke, but was robbed by Yegorov, who stopped 32 pucks in the loss.
“We really started turning pucks over, and couldn’t get anything going on the forecheck, and they just kept coming back at us, wore us down,” Pandolfo said.
The Eagles took a 2-1 lead at 14:54. From the point, senior Lukas Gustafsson sent a tame shot towards the goal that was redirected in by junior Will Vote.
At 16:39 of the second period, Ryder Ritchie (CAS’29) was called for tripping, giving BC’s lethal power play another opportunity, which the Eagles cashed in on just 13 seconds into the man advantage.
Gustafsson ripped a shot from the point past Yegorov to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead at 16:52. Sophomore James Hagens, named Beanpot Most Valuable Player, recorded an assist on the goal.
In need of a push and down two goals with one period left to play, the Terriers once again hurt themselves when Ritchie whistled for cross-checking at 5:32. This time, it took the Eagles only four seconds to score on the power play, pushing their lead to 4-1.
Gasseau cleaned up a rebound off a Conmy one-timer for his second goal of the game. BC scored three power-play goals in the contest. Sophomore Dean Letourneau scored the Eagles’ fifth goal at 16:03. Vote tacked on his second tally at 18:49 with the Terriers’ net empty to make it 6-2 BC.
Eiserman got one back for BU at 14:51 on the power play. He blasted a one-timer home from the right circle, but the push was too little, too late for the Terriers.
Monday’s performance adds to the long list of frustrations for BU this season, something Pandolfo noted during the postgame presser. “We’ve still got some hockey left to play. Obviously we’re in a very difficult spot. But we’ve got to try to find a way to end the year off right,” he said.