BC Bulletin

What a Women’s Beanpot Championship Would Mean for Each School

A major opportunity for Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, and Northeastern to make a statement in the city’s marquee event.
Chris Vogel|
Boston College celebrate after capturing the 2018 Beanpot, the last time the Eagles captured the trophy.
Boston College celebrate after capturing the 2018 Beanpot, the last time the Eagles captured the trophy. | John Quackenbos , bceagles.com

Northeastern enters the 2026 Beanpot with a target on their back, as the Huskies come in ranked inside the top ten nationally, sit atop Hockey East, and have captured the last three Beanpots. The other three programs enter trying to make a statement and catapult their programs into the spotlight, first at Walter Brown Areana on January 13th and on New England's grandest stage at TD Garden on January 20th.

Boston College: First trophy since 2018 and the Beginning of a Return to Prominence 

Not only have the Eagles failed to capture the Women’s Beanpot since 2018, the longest drought of the four schools, they have failed to take home a trophy in any competition since that season. Boston College have agonizingly close since then, falling in the championship game by just one goal in both 2022 and 2023. The drought has seen the Eagles fall from one of the nation’s best programs, including playing in seven of 11 Frozen Fours from 2007 to 2017 alongside five regular season and three Hockey East tournament championships.  

Now, a promising freshman core gives hope of a return to the glory days as the Eagles boast one of the deepest and most productive freshman classes in Hockey East. Ava Thomas is a contender for Hockey East Rookie of the Year and leads all first years with 12 goals while Maxim Tremblay ranks fifth among freshmen with seven goals and ranks in the top ten in points among the group. Madelyn Murphy leads all first-year blue liners with 12 points and is tied for the lead with four goals while Alania Dunn has appeared in every game for the Eagles. The four have made an instant impact on The Heights and give the Eagles building blocks for the future if Katie Crowley can retain them.

Boston University: Getting Over the Hump and Settling the Ship

After three straight overtime wins to capture the 2025 Hockey East Tournament championship, the Terriers entered the season as the highest ranked team in Hockey East and a favorite to return to the NCAA tournament. However, despite success in the conference tournament in March, a Beanpot title continued to elude the Terriers as they fell to Northeastern for the second year in a row at TD Garden. 

Despite the high expectations, Boston University stumbled through the early portion of the season, dropping 10 of their first 12 before beginning to turn the season around in Belfast. After a shootout victory over a top ten Quinnipiac squad in the semifinals, the Terriers downed Harvard to win the Friendship Four in a potential Beanpot preview. Another tournament victory for Boston University sets the Terriers up for the second half and eventually the Hockey East tournament as they continue to erase a miserable fall semester.

Harvard:  The Nation’s Most Impressive Turnaround 

Just a year ago The Crimson managed to win just two games, both coming in October before dropping 14 in a row and finishing 0-23-2 in their last 25 games. It was the third straight season Harvard had seen their win total decline after a trip to the NCAA tournament and a Beanpot championship in 2021-22, winning just 7 games in 2022-23 and 5 in 2023-24.

Now, Laura Bellamy has her squad back on track and above .500 entering the first round, including a marquee win in Belfast. Harvard participated in the Friendship Four earlier this month and picked up a win over then No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth before being denied a tournament championship by Boston University. With a pair of victories on the middle Tuesdays of January, The Crimson would take the most significant step so far in their rebuild and continue on the path to a return to being one of the ECAC’s and region’s best.

Northeastern: A local dynasty and an Emergence as a National Threat

No team has four-peated since Harvard’s seven straight at the turn of the century, before Boston University had even elevated their program to the varsity level, but after taking the last on-campus final and the first two finals at TD Garden, Northeastern are knocking on the door. The Huskies enter the tournament as heavy favorites, ranked seventh in the nation, and have been nearly perfect in Hockey East play, dropping just two points all season. Anything short of another dog pile on Causeway will be seen as a disappointment.

Despite the recent success in The Beanpot, Northeastern have suffered heartbreak in Hockey East championships, dropping the last two in overtime. Most recently it came at the hands of Boston University who the Huskies matchup with in round one. Northeastern have defeated Boston University in each of the last two Beanpot championships and can use the semifinal as an opportunity to exert some revenge for last March and build confidence in case of another meeting in postseason play.

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Chris Vogel
CHRIS VOGEL

Chris Vogel has spent the last five years in sports media; including as a play-by-play broadcaster for ACC Network Extra and Hockey East on ESPN. He’s a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and in his final year as a graduate student at Boston College, where he serves as the radio voice of Boston College Women’s Hockey on WZBC 90.3; the flagship radio network of Boston College Women’s Athletics. He’s the host of the “All Things Hockey” podcast, and cover women’s college hockey for College Hockey On SI.

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