BC Bulletin

Surprise BU Wins Friendship Series Women's Tournament in Ireland: Puck Drop

Your daily briefing on what's going on in college hockey, everything from the assists on the ice to the Zamboni.
Christopher Walsh|
Boston University celebrates winning the first Friendship Series women's tournament, 3-2 over Harvard in Northern Ireland.
Boston University celebrates winning the first Friendship Series women's tournament, 3-2 over Harvard in Northern Ireland. | Boston University Athletics

Although the Boston University women's hockey team had the worst record of the four teams to play in the 2026 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the Terriers defeated Harvard 3-2 in the championship game to win the Belpot Trophy.

Junior forward Neely Nicholson's go-ahead goal with 7:14 remaining held up as the game-winner. Seniors Riley Walsh and Lilli Welcke got the other goals for BU, while junior Mari Pietersen made 27 saves to get the win. Freshmen Carla McSweeney and Elle Sproule scored for the Crimson.

Both teams had to upset a ranked team to make the finals, as BU came back from a two-goal deficit to edge No. 8 Quinnipiac in a shootout, 3-2, with Welcke was the only shooter to score. Harvard upset No. 5 Minnesota Duluth 3-2 in overtime with Ainsley Tuffy making 55 saves and McSweeney getting the decisive goal.

Coming in, the Terries had only four wins in the States (all in Hockey East play) during the first half of the season. BU improved to 5-11-3 (4-6-2 Hockey East) while Harvard moved to 8-7-1 (4-5-1 ECAC).

This was the first time the women's Friendship Series was a four-team tournament. Previously, it had featured two teams playing a weekend series a long way from home.

SEE ALSO: Boston College Women’s Hockey Falls to Ranked Opponent to Open 2026

Puck Drop: Sunday, January 4, 2026

•  No. 10 Quinnipiac completed a home weekend sweep of ranked Ivy league teams with a 5-3 victory over No. 9 Dartmouth, which lost its third straight. It's the first weekend sweep of ranked opponents since Dec. 26-27, 2020, when the Bobcats knocked off then-No. 19 AIC in back-to-back games. Sophomore Tyler Borgula had a five-assist weekend to tie for the most assists in a single weekend by any player in Division I hockey this season. Quinnipiac blasted No. 18 Harvard 9-1 on Friday.

• The No. 2 Ohio State women's hockey team completed a sweep of No. 4 Penn State with a 4-1 home win. The Buckeys (17-3-0, 11-3-0 WCHA) had a 40-21 shot advantage. Jocelyn Amos had a Goal and an assists, and Joy Dunne had two assists.

• Auston Matthews, out of the U.S. National Development Program, scored two goals to move past Mats Sundin as the top goal scorer in Toronto Maple Leafs history with 421. However, Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer scored his second goal of the game with 49 seconds left in overtime, on former Boston College goaltender Joseph Woll, as New York rallied for a 4-3 win.

• Catching up on some commitments, there’s been a couple of recent flips F Masun Fleece of the Dubuque Fighting Saints ( USHL) committing to Maine, from previously Penn State; and F Justin Graff of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL) switching to Harvard from Merrimack. Meanwhile:

St Thomas, C Vincent Collard, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)
Lake Superior, D, Teo Touchans Besner, Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)
Union, C Peter Legostaev,  Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
Ferris State, RW Brecken Smith, Tri-City Storm (USHL)         
Augustana, F Matsvei Marshchanok, Austin Bruins (NAHL)
Lindenwood: F Caden Brown, Regina Pats (WHL)

• Former Boston University center Macklin Celebrini has factored in 50.8 percent of his team's goals this season, a rate that would represent the highest ever recorded by a teenager in NHL history. Check out the details on Break Away On SI.

Saturday's Men's College Hockey Scores

Cactus Cup (at Acrisure Arena, Palm Springs, Calif.)
Third-place game: No. 14 Minnesota State 4, Yale 3
Championship: St. Cloud State 3, UMass Lowell 2

Desert Hockey Classic (at Mullett Arena, Tempe, Ariz.)
Third-place game: Michigan Tech 5, Alaska-Anchorage 0
Championship: Arizona State 5, Air Force 2

AHA
Sacred Heart 3, Robert Morris 1
Bentley 8, Holy Cross 3

CCHA
Lake Superior 2 , Northern Michigan 1
St. Thomas 8, Ferris State 4

ECAC
Princeton 3, No. 18 Harvard 2
No. 10 Quinnipiac 5, No. 9 Dartmouth 3

Non-Conference
No. 11 UConn 3, Long Island 1
Canisius 4, Lindenwood 3
Alaska 5, No. 16 Providence 1
Stonehill 3, St. Lawrence 3 (OT)
Bowling Green 5, Ohio State 3
No. 15 Maine 3, No. 6 Denver 3 (OT)
Clarkson 6, Niagara 2
Vermont 3, RPI 0
No. 7 Western Michigan 4, Notre Dame 0
No. 4 North Dakota 6, Mercyhurst 1
Augustana 4, Colorado College 2
Merrimack 3, Brown 2
No. 17 Cornell 3, Omaha 2
Colgate 3, New Hampshire 2
RIT 1, No. 8 Penn State 0

Exhibition
No. 19 Boston University 8, Simon Fraser 2
No. 20 Union 9, Royal Military 0

Saturday's Womens' College Hockey Scores

2026 Friendship Series (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
Third-place game: 8 Quinnipiac 3, No. 5 Minnesota Duluth 1
Championship: Boston University 3, Harvard 2

AHA
Mercyhurst 2, Lindenwood 1 (OT)
Syracuse 4, Delaware 0

ECAC
Brown 3, Union 1
No. 15 Yale 7, Rensselaer 2

Hockey East
No. 6 UConn 5, Providence 0
Maine 2, Holy Cross 1

Non-Conference
No. 3 Minnesota 14, Sacred Heart 2
No. 11 Clarkson 9, Saint Michael's 0
New Hampshire 4, Long Island 0
No. 14 Colgate 3, Boston College 0
No. 2 Ohio State 4, No. 4 Penn State 1
No. 9 Princeton 10, Stonehill 0
Vermont 2, Dartmouth 1
Bemidji State 3, Merrimack 1

Exhibition
No. 13 St. Cloud State def. St. Thomas (score NA)

Games between ranked opponents are bolded. All times are local to where the game is being played.

Sunday's Men's College Hockey Schedule

MEN
Exhibition
US Under-18 at Michigan State, 4 p.m. ET

CCHA
Northern Michigan at Lake Superior, 4:07 ET

Non-Conference
RIT at No. 8 Penn State, 5 p.m. ET
Colgate at New Hampshire, 7 p.m. ET

Sunday's Women's College Hockey Schedule

WOMEN
Non-Conference
Long Island at New Hampshire, 2 p.m. ET
Bemidji State at Merrimack, 7 p.m. ET

This Date in Hockey History:

January 4, 1973: Bobby Orr notched his 163rd goal break Red Kelly’s career NHL record by a defenseman. He did it in 428 games, while Kelly needed 846 to net 162. However, the Bruins lost to the Blues 4-2.

January 4, 1973: Bowling Green defenseman Greg de Vries was born in Sundridge, Ontario.

January 4, 1974: Former: St. Mary’s College (Division III) defensemen Bob Paradise was traded along with Chuck Arnason by the Atlanta Flames to Pittsburgh in exchange for Al McDonough.

January 4, 1975: Former American International left wing Dave Forbes of the Boston Bruins hit center Henry Boucha of the Minnesota North Stars in the right eye socket, leaving him with limited vision that curtailed his playing career. Forbes was later charged and tried in a Minneapolis court with aggravated assault, but when the jury was unable to reach a decision the charges were dropped. Incidentally, the Bruins won the game 8-0. Boucha and Forbes had been in a fight in the first period, and the incident occurred in the second period when Boston was up 6-0. Forbes was issued a 10-minute penalty for 10 minutes for “Deliberate injury.”

January 4, 1980: Former Michigan forward Kris Manery was traded by the Minnesota North Stars to Vancouver for the Canucks' second round pick in the 1982 Draft. The later sent the pick to Montreal, which selected St. Lawrence defenseman Kent Carlson.

January 4, 1981: Boston University defenseman Freddy Meyer was born in Sanbonville, N.H.

January 4, 1982: Former North Dakota defenseman Alan Hangsleben signed a free-agent contract with the Washington Capitals.

January 4, 1984: The Edmonton Oilers beat the visiting Minnesota North Stars 12-8 to set an NHL record for most goals by two teams in a single game (Montreal def. the Toronto St. Pats 14-7 in 1920). Wayne Gretzky had four goals and four assists. It was his second eight-point game of the season. It was extended his NHL-record assist streak to 17 straight games (which ended with the next game), during which he had tallied 38.

January 4, 1986: Former North Dakota right wing Dave Christian to toa goals and three assist to help lead Washington to a 9-3 victory over New Jersey.  

January 4, 1988: Boston University defenseman Brian Strair was born Waltham, Mass.

January 4, 1989: Former Boston College defenseman Brain Leetch set an NHL record for shots on goal by a defenseman in a game when he had 13 of the Rangers’ 54 in a 3-3 tie with Washington. The rookie had a goal and an assist.

January 4, 1993: St. Cloud State right wing Patrick Russell was born in Birkerød, Denmark.

January 4, 2000: Notre Dame defenseman Spencer Stastney was bornin Woodbridge, Ill.  

January 4, 2002: Harvard defenseman Ian Moore was born in Salt Lake City, Utah

January 4, 2002: The Phoenix Coyotes traded former Maine defenseman David Cullen to the Minnesota Wild for center Sebastien Bordeleau.

January 4, 2011: Former Michigan right wing Jed Ortmeyer signed a free-agent deal with the Minnesota Wild.

January 4, 2014: Former Wisconsin defenseman Ryan Suter notched the first hat trick by a Minnesota Wild defenseman a 5-3 victory over the visiting Capitals despite being outshot 30-11. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Minnesota set an NHL record by scoring its first five goals on just 11 shots. No team had scored as many goals on fewer than 13 shots since shots on goal became a recorded statistic in 1973-74. (Vintage Minnesota Hockey).

January 4, 2017: Former Minnesota defenseman Alex Goligoski appeared in his 600th NHL game, but the Arizona Coyotes to the Vancouver Canucks 3-0.

January 4, 2018: Denver center Tyler Bozak scored in the sixth round of a shootout to give Toronto its first home win over the Sharks in nearly 16 years, 3-2. The Maple Leafs had been 0-5—2-1 since Jan. 29, 2002.

January 4, 2024: Former UMass-Lowell goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves to extend his personal point streak to 11 games, the longest run in Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history, during a 2-1 victory over San Jose. It was the 10th straight loss for the struggling Sharks.

Hockey Quote of the Day

With wavy blond hair and soft blue-gray eyes, he was among the handsomest of men, so disarming in appearance that his contemporaries at Princeton were not embarrassed to call him beautiful. Add to all this a humble manner, a noble character and what his biographer, John Davies, calls ''a foreboding, a sense that Hobey was somehow playing out a Greek tragedy,'' and you have the stuff of literature.
SI’s Ron Fimrite on Hobey Baker

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Published | Modified
Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and is also the publisher of the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt sites . He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004 and is the author of 27 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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